This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
这里是VOA慢速英语健康报道。
Hospitals not only treat infections -- they can also cause them.
医院不仅治疗感染 -- 他们也可能导致感染。
In the United States alone, the number of infections in hospitals is estimated at close to two million each year. About one hundred thousand patients die.
仅美国一地，每年医院的感染人数估计接近200万,其中大约10万例感染者死亡。
A new government report notes that very little progress has been made in reducing what are called health care-associated infections. The most common are infections of the urinary tract, surgical site and bloodstream.
一份新的政府报告指出，降低医疗护理相关的感染（即医源性感染）进展缓慢。最常见的感染是尿路感染，手术创口感染和血液感染。
Many infections have been increasing even as hospitals have made efforts to improve. The report shows, for example, an eight percent increase in cases of sepsis, or bloodstream infection, following operations.
虽然医院努力改善，许多感染的数目仍然在上升。例如，报告指出，术后血液感染或患败血症的人数上升了8%。
About forty percent of all health care-associated infections are linked to the use of catheters. A tube is placed inside the body to collect urine, so the patient does not have to get out of bed.
所有医源性感染者中有40%与使用导尿管有关。医生将一根导管插入体内来收集尿液，这样病人（排尿）就不需离开病床。
But the latest report says urinary tract infections after surgery increased more than three and a half percent. It says catheters should be used only if necessary.
但是最新的一份报告表明，手术后（使用导尿管导致的）尿路感染人数增加了超过3.5%。报告称，只有在必要的情况下才使用导尿管。
Another way to prevent infections is to give patients antibiotics before surgery. Doctors are advised to give them within the hour before the operation. Patients who get antibiotics earlier than one hour are more likely to get an infected surgical wound.
防止感染的另外一个方法是在手术前为病人注射抗生素。建议医生在术前一小时之内为病人注射，早于一小时注射抗生素的病人手术伤口更有可能感染。
Also, doctors are advised to discontinue the antibiotics within twenty-four hours after the surgery. The report says longer than that is usually not necessary. It can increase the risk of antibiotic resistance and serious kinds of diarrhea.
同时，医生还应该在手术后24小时之内停止使用抗生素。该报告表示，超过这个时间是不必要的，可能会增加抗生素耐药性或严重腹泻的风险。
Not all the news was bad. The report said the rate of pneumonia in adults after surgery decreased more than eleven and a half percent.
当然也不全是坏消息。该报告称，成年人手术后患肺炎的几率降低了11.5%。
A separate report looked at the differences last year in health care for different groups in society.
另一份独立的报告对去年不同人群医疗护理差异进行了调查。
Kathleen Sebelius is secretary of health and human services. Her department produced the two thousand nine National Healthcare Disparities Report and National Healthcare Quality Report. She noted that racial and ethnic minorities were less likely to have insurance and less likely to get the treatments they needed. She called the numbers "troubling."
Kathleen Sebelius是卫生与公众服务部的负责人。她的部门出台了2009年国民保健差异报告和国民保健品质报告。她指出，种族和少数族裔人士很少有医疗保险，也很少能得到所需的治疗。她说，这些数字非常“令人担忧”。
But she also said the health care reforms passed by Congress will improve the quality of care for all Americans. She said the new law will reward quality over quantity of care, creating a system that prevents diseases before more costly treatment is required.
但她同时表示，国会通过的医疗改革法案将改善所有美国人的医疗保健质量。她说，新法案将重视更加保健的质量而不是数量，还将建立一个疾病预防系统，以避免(患病后所需的)昂贵的治疗。