200年前疾病又捲土重來,我們防得住嗎大綱
Data released by the UK National Health Service last year on patient admissions revealed an alarming rise in various nutritional and communicable diseases in the past decade.
英國國家衞生署去年公佈的入院患者的數據顯示,各種各樣的營養性疾病和傳染性疾病在過去十年來以驚人的速度增長着。The infectious disease known as scarlet fever famously reached pandemic proportions in the 19th century, striking down the young and the weak across the Western world.
被稱為紅熱病的傳染病在20世紀盛行,擊潰了當時西方國家的幼兒們和體弱者。Recent years have seen a return of the bacterial infection, reaching numbers not seen since the 1960s, with admissions for a primary diagnosis more than doubling between 2010/11 and 2017/18, from 429 to more than 1,300.
近些年來,細菌感染捲土重來,受害者達到了自1960s以來從所未見的最高值,初步確診者的人數從429躍升至1300多人,從2011年到2017年期間的感染人數翻了兩倍不止。
Just as shocking was the 59 percent rise in whooping cough, a disease that was all but wiped out more than half a century ago by comprehensive immunisation programs.
同樣令人震驚的是百日咳的發病率上升了59%,而百日咳是一種半個世紀前的綜合免疫接種計劃沒能徹底消滅的疾病。At the same time, entries for gout jumped by just over a third – a disease associated with "ease and comfort" in Victorian London, now more likely to be linked with deprivation and lack of work.
同時,罹患痛風的人升高了大約1/3,這個病在維多利亞時期的倫敦一度被視作“富貴病”,現在更傾向於認為與缺乏鍛鍊有關。The report didn't comment on potential factors influencing the numbers, but many – including members of the opposing political party – are laying the blame squarely at the feet of government cost-cutting.
這個報告沒有談到可能影響患病數量的原因,但是很多人,包括在野黨的成員,歸咎於政府一味縮減醫療健康成本預算。According to an analysis carried out by the independent health charity King's Fund, successive cuts to health budgets – especially in fields of sexual health and addiction – could be expected to hit roughly £800 million (over US$1 billion) by 2021.
根據獨立健康慈善金基金的分析,到2021年,醫療預算將持續縮減大概8億歐元(超過10億美金),尤其是在性健康和性傳染病方面的縮減。As impressive as those saving gains might look now, they could easily be swallowed as rising rates of illness place a greater burden on society.
儘管這筆節省下來的錢目前看來相當可觀,但其實遠不夠填補隨之而來的不斷升高的患病率所增加的社會負擔的窟窿。