冠狀病毒的常見問題解答
The new coronavirus continues its spread in nearly every nation, bringing illness or death to many thousands of people. In the United States, the number of cases is growing rapidly. Here we ask experts questions from readers and listeners about COVID-19. and how to prevent the spread of the virus.
新型冠狀病毒繼續(xù)在幾乎每個國家傳播,給成千上萬的人帶來疾病或死亡。在美國,病例數(shù)量正在迅速增長。在這里,我們向?qū)<以儐栕x者和聽眾關于COVID-19以及如何防止病毒傳播的問題。
I know the virus can live on hard surfaces. What about clothing?
我知道病毒可以在堅硬的表面生存。會在衣服上存活嗎?
It probably can — but you shouldn't be overly worried. Here's why.
或許可以,但你不必過于擔心。這里有原因。
So far, there aren't scientific findings on how long the virus can live on fabric. But fabrics are generally porous — as is cardboard, which has been tested. And a recent study did find that the virus can live on cardboard for up to 24 hours.
到目前為止,還沒有關于這種病毒能在面料上存活多久的科學發(fā)現(xiàn)。但面料通常是多孔的,紙板也是如此,它已經(jīng)經(jīng)過了測試。最近的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn),這種病毒可以在硬紙板上存活24小時。
"The thing that you have to consider, though, is that those tests are done in ideal testing circumstances," says Rachel Graham, a virologist at the University of North Carolina. "That's like in some kind of hermetically-sealed box where there's no fluctuation in humidity, there's no wind, there's nothing that can contribute toward desiccating the virus. And so desiccation — or drying out the virus — would actually reduce the amount of time it's actually viable on any kind of surface."
“不過,你必須考慮的是,這些測試是在理想的測試環(huán)境下進行的,”北卡羅來納大學病毒學家雷切爾·格雷厄姆。“說就像在一個密封的盒子里,那里沒有濕度波動,沒有風,沒有任何東西可以幫助病毒干燥。因此,干燥,或者將病毒干燥,實際上會減少病毒在任何表面上存活的時間。”
Plus, porousness is a good thing when it comes to virus. A surface that is permeable, like a fabric, tends to trap viruses more easily than hard surfaces.
另外,對于病毒來說,多孔性是一件好事。像面料一樣可滲透的表面比堅硬的表面更容易捕獲病毒。
"It's less at risk of transmitting because the virus gets kind of stuck to the [porous] surface, and so it can't be easily transferred back off of it," Graham says. "Porous surfaces also suck the fluid out of it. The viral membrane is a lipid membrane and so if that becomes dried out, it's basically done, infectivity-wise."
“它傳播的風險更小,因為病毒會粘在多孔的表面,所以它不容易從多孔表面轉(zhuǎn)移回來,” 格雷厄姆說。多孔的表面也會將(病毒的)液體吸出。病毒膜是一種脂質(zhì)膜,所以如果它變干了,基本上就完成了感染的過程。”
If you are concerned that clothing or other fabric items might have picked up the virus, throw the clothing in the washer and dryer. For most situations, says Graham, your detergent will do its job and get rid of any infective particles – or at least sanitize them to the point where they're not a risk to you.
如果你擔心衣服或其他面料可能感染了病毒,把衣服扔進洗衣機和烘干機。格雷厄姆說,在大多數(shù)情況下,你的清潔劑會起作用,清除掉任何有傳染性的顆粒,或者至少把它們消毒到對你沒有危險的程度。
I like to use wipes to disinfect surfaces in my home — especially surfaces that are frequently touched. But how much surface area can one wipe be used on before it loses its ability to kill the coronavirus?
我喜歡用濕巾給家里的表面消毒,特別是那些經(jīng)常接觸的表面。但是,在一次擦拭失去殺死冠狀病毒的能力之前,它可以使用多少表面積?
The first step is to check thelabel on the wipes you're using. For instance, the label on a container of Clorox wipes instructs: "Use enough wipes for treated surface to remain visibly wet for 4 minutes. To kill viruses, let stand 15 seconds."
第一步是檢查你使用的濕巾上的標簽。例如,高樂氏濕巾容器上的標簽指示:“使用足夠的濕巾,使表面保持濕潤4分鐘。”為了殺死病毒,靜置15秒。”
That time and that visiblewetness is important, says Erica Hartman, an expert in environmental microbiology at the Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering.
美國西北大學麥考密克工程學院環(huán)境微生物學專家埃麗卡•哈特曼表示,這段時間以及可見的濕度非常重要。
Regardless of the particular ingredients in the wipes you're using, "they're all chemicals that have to react," she says. "And those chemical reactions aren't instantaneous — they take a certain amount of time. So what you're doing when you're keeping the surface wet is you're basically allowing time, allowing the chemical reactions to take place."
不管你使用的濕巾中有什么特殊成分,“它們都是必須反應的化學物質(zhì),”她說這些化學反應不是瞬間的,它們需要一定的時間。所以,當你保持表面濕潤時,你所做的就是基本上留出時間,讓化學反應發(fā)生。”
Strangers keep petting my dog when we go for a walk. Could my dog transmit the virus on its fur?
我們出去散步時,陌生人不斷地撫摸我的狗。我的狗能通過它的皮毛傳播病毒嗎?
Saskia Popescu, an infection prevention epidemiologist at the health-care system Honor Health, says she's not especially concerned about dog fur transmitting the virus. "I think that I would probably be more worried if somebody was coughing all over the place and went to touch my dog's harness or something — something inanimate," she says. "I would put it in the lower risk category."
薩斯基亞·波普斯庫是衛(wèi)生保健系統(tǒng)榮譽健康的傳染病預防流行病學家,她說她并不特別擔心狗毛傳播病毒。她說:“我想,我可能會更擔心,有人到處咳嗽,摸我狗的護具或其他一些沒有生命的東西,。”“我會把它歸為風險較低的一類。”
That's because like fabric, fur is a porous surface — so it isn't easy for a person to pick up bits of virus from it. "The chances of you getting it from fur and hair is going to be less than getting it from a solid surface," says virologist RachelGraham.
這是因為像面料一樣,毛皮的表面是多孔的,所以人們不容易從毛皮上感染病毒。病毒學家雷切爾·格雷厄姆說:“你從毛皮和毛發(fā)中得到它的機會將比從固體表面得到它的機會要小。”
Can people get COVID-19 more than once?
人們會多次感染COVID-19嗎?
The short answer: We don't know yet. It's not yet clear whether people can be reinfected by this coronavirus or how long immunity might last after infection.
答案很簡單:我們還不知道。目前還不清楚人們是否會再次感染這種冠狀病毒,也不清楚感染后免疫系統(tǒng)能持續(xù)多長時間。
Immunity after recovery from COVID-19 would be a boon in the global fight to rein in the virus. People who have recovered and gained immunity would be especially valuable as health-care workers. The spread of the virus would slow if there were fewer people. And antibodies from recovered people could help in developing a treatment for the disease.
從COVID-19恢復后的免疫力將是全球控制病毒斗爭的福音??祻筒@得免疫的人將會與衛(wèi)生保健工作者一樣特別有價值。如果人少了,病毒的傳播就會慢下來。從康復病人身上獲得的抗體可以幫助開發(fā)出治療這種疾病的方法。