Passage Sixteen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 12, 2006; Page A10
On the Titanic, it was women and children first. During a syphilis outbreak in World War II, soldiers with the best chance of recovery were the ones to get precious doses of penicillin.
In the event of a global flu pandemic, federal officials have said they intend to give vaccine first to health-care workers, followed by the oldest, sickest patients, a policy aimed at saving the most lives. But one of the government's top medical ethicists is challenging that approach, arguing it is more appropriate to give young adults priority because they are at higher risk of dying in a flu pandemic and still have many productive years left.
As the government prepares for a potential pandemic influenza outbreak, one of the thorniest questions to arise is who should be first in line for limited supplies of antiviral medicine and vaccine.
Experts fear that the avian influenza that has raged through birds in Asia could trigger a pandemic if it gains the ability to move easily from human to human, with the potential to kill 210,000 to 1.9 million Americans. So far the H5N1 bird flu has infected only about 200 people, who had close contact with infected birds. (A pandemic would be caused by a flu strain distinct from those that cause seasonal outbreaks, and the annual flu vaccine would not protect against it.)
There is no debate that vaccine makers and medical personnel should be first to be immunized, because they will then be able to save many more lives. But deciding who follows is not an easy call, said Jon Abramson, chair of pediatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and chair of one of two federal advisory panels that helped develop the current policy.
Some panel members argued that children should be the top priority, he said. "If you save a child who is 2, you've potentially saved 80 quality years," he explained. "If you save a 65-year-old, you may have only saved 15 years of quality life."
Against that backdrop, the two advisory panels unanimously recommended ranking the elderly ahead of other sick or healthy individuals because they believe senior citizens "are at high risk of hospitalization and death."
In addition to the elderly, the two panels advised offering vaccine first to patients with at least two high-risk conditions such as heart disease, and to anyone with a history of severe pneumonia. Below them on the priority list would be pregnant women, first responders and "key government leaders," followed by healthy seniors, people with one risk factor and people employed in the utility, transportation and telecommunications industries.
One of the guiding principles in the deliberations was "equity," Abramson said. "They strongly felt you cannot prioritize on the basis of age or gender or race."
1.The author cited the story of Titanic in order to show that ______.
A. bird flue is as serious as the tragedy of Titanic
B. the feeling of lovers may conquer disease
C. the weak group should be given priority to rescue.
D. men should take action against danger
2.The heated discussion in this passage mainly deals with _________.
A. whether children should be given anti-viral medicine and vaccine.
B. the priority order of dispensing anti-viral medicine and vaccine against bird flu.
C. if the anti-viral medicine and vaccine are effective.
D. how to produce more anti-viral medicine and vaccine.
3. According to this passage, it is without questions that ________.
A. medicine makers should be immunized first.
B. children should need more care, so they must be immunized first.
C. aged people should be immunized because they rich in experience.
D. bird flue has claimed the lives of thousand.
4. What is the priority rank given by advisory panel?
A. medicine makers, the aged and patients, pregnant women, healthy seniors, etc.
B. the aged and patients, pregnant women, healthy seniors and medicine makers
C. people employed in the utility, healthy seniors and medicine makers, etc.
D. medicine makers, children, the aged and patients ,healthy seniors, pregnant women
5. What can be the best title for this passage?
A. Bird flu, Medicine and Vaccine
B. Prioritization of Anti-Bird Flue Medicine and Vaccine
C. Titanic and Bird Flu
D. Against Discrimination
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