研究：變異新冠病毒在美國迅速傳播

最新研究表明，在英國發現的新冠病毒變異株或將在3月成爲在美國傳播的新冠病毒主流。美國專家稱，儘管美國新冠肺炎確診病例數在近期有所下降，但由於變異新冠病毒的蔓延，美國疫情仍不樂觀，民衆不可放鬆警惕。

The coronavirus variant that has moved through the UK is now spreading "rapidly" through the US, according to a new study published on Sunday.

根據2月7日發表的一項新研究，已經在英國傳播的變異新冠病毒正在美國“迅速”傳播。

The more contagious strain is nearly doubling its prevalence among confirmed cases in the US every nine days.

變異新冠病毒在美國的傳播率每隔9天就增長近1倍。

The spread of the variant, known as , has put added pressure on vaccination efforts worldwide.

這種被稱爲的變異新冠病毒的傳播給全世界的疫苗接種工作增加了壓力。

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has predicted it could be the predominant strain by March.

美國疾病控制與預防中心預測，這種變異新冠病毒或將在3月成爲在美國傳播的新冠病毒的主流。

The report, posted on the preprint server MedRxiv, is a collaboration of several researchers and scientists. It has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal.

這份發佈在預印本平臺MedRxiv上的報告是幾位研究人員和科學家的合作成果，尚未經過同行評審或發表在期刊上。

Case numbers of the new variant are still somewhat small in the US.

在美國，這種變異新冠病毒的病例數仍然很少。

According to the CDC, Florida leads the country in reported cases of with 187 as of Thursday, followed by California with 145.

根據美國疾病控制與預防中心的數據，截至2月4日，佛羅里達州報告的型變異病毒確診病例爲187例，居全美之首，其次是加利福尼亞州，爲145例。

"Our study shows that the US is on a similar trajectory as other countries where rapidly became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, requiring immediate and decisive action to minimize Covid-19 morbidity and mortality," the report's authors wrote.

該報告的作者寫道：“我們的研究表明，美國正處於與其他國家類似的軌跡上，迅速成爲新冠病毒的主要變種，需要立即和果斷地採取行動，儘可能地降低其發病率和死亡率。”

trajectory[trəˈdʒektəri]：n.軌道，軌線

This new strain is 35-45% more transmissible than other strains of the virus currently in the US, the report found.

報告發現，這種變異病毒的傳染性比目前美國的其他毒株高35-45%。

When the CDC first warned of the new variant's presence in the US in mid-January, it was present in less than 0.5% of cases. By the end of the month, this figure had jumped to 3.6%, according to the study.

美國疾病控制與預防中心1月中旬首次警告美國出現這種變異病毒時，其病例數只佔不到0.5%。這項研究發現，到1月底，感染該變異病毒的病例佔比上升至3.6%。

The report comes as the United States' winter virus surge passes its peak. Daily cases throughout the country have been falling for about a month, since early January. But the average daily death toll remains extremely high - some 3,000 per day - and hospitals remain under immense pressure.

該報告出爐之際，美國冬季新冠肺炎病例激增的高峯已經過去。自1月初以來，全美各地的每日新增病例數已經下降了約一個月。但是日均死亡人數仍然非常高，大約每天3000人，醫院仍然承受着巨大的壓力。

The variant, first discovered in Britain, has so far spread to more than 50 countries.

變異病毒首先在英國發現，目前已傳播到50多個國家。

As with the original virus, the risk is highest for the elderly and for those with significant underlying health conditions.

與早先的病毒一樣，老年人和那些身體健康狀況不佳的人風險最高。

There has been some suggestion that the strain may be associated with a 30% higher risk of death, but the evidence on this is not strong, and the data is still uncertain.

有建議認爲，這種病毒毒株可能引發死亡風險增加30%，但這方面的證據並不充分，數據仍不確定。

Current vaccines were designed around earlier variants but initial studies have indicated that the Pfizer, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines will all protect against the strain.

目前的疫苗是圍繞較早的變種設計的，但初步研究表明，輝瑞、牛津-阿斯利康和摩德納的疫苗都將對毒株產生保護作用。