The hardest moment came when Elaine and Dennis Krause's 9-year-son, who had stoically undergone kidney dialysis, blood transfusions and drug treatments that made him hallucinate that spiders were all around him, quietly asked his parents whether he was going to die.
對伊萊恩和丹尼斯·克勞斯還說,現(xiàn)在是一個極度痛苦的時刻。他們9歲的孩子經(jīng)歷了腎透析,輸血和藥物治療,這一切讓他產(chǎn)生了幻覺,好像有很多蜘蛛在他身邊爬來爬去。他平靜的問他的父母他是不是快要死了。
"What do you say when your child asks you, am I going to die?" asked Elaine Krause, who has spent nearly all of this month beside her son's bed at a hospital here, watching his skinny, lanky body do battle with E. coli. "I told him, 'These people are trying to help you, and you are getting good care.' But the truth is, I couldn't answer him directly. We didn't know."
“當(dāng)你的孩子問你他是不是快要死了,你有什么想法?”伊萊恩·克勞斯問到。她這個月來幾乎每天都在醫(yī)院陪在自己孩子的身邊,看著自己的骨瘦如柴的孩子與大腸桿菌抗?fàn)帯?ldquo;我告訴他說大家都在幫你,你會沒事的。但事實上,我卻不能直接回答他,因為我們也不知道。”
By this weekend, a national outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach grown in California had sickened 170 people in 25 states and killed at least one here in Wisconsin, where more people have grown ill than in any other state. The authorities in Idaho and Maryland were investigating the deaths of two others, including a toddler whose parents said they gave him a fruit smoothie with spinach days earlier, trying to determine whether their deaths, too, were linked to the outbreak.
到本周為止,因為在加利福尼亞州新鮮菠菜導(dǎo)致的全美爆發(fā)的大腸桿菌已經(jīng)導(dǎo)致了25個州170人患病,并造成了至少一例威斯康星州的病人死亡。在威斯康星,患病的人數(shù)是全美最多的。愛達(dá)荷州和馬里蘭州的官員正在調(diào)查其他的兩例死亡病例,其中包括一位幼兒,他的父母說他們在孩子死前幾天給孩子食用了一種含有菠菜的水果汁。他們想證實他們的死亡是否與本次爆發(fā)的疫情有關(guān)。
But beyond the raw statistics were individual stories of a sudden, mysterious, life-threatening illness, one that struck most often in the homes of those who viewed themselves as more health conscious than many other Americans.
但是,單個的突發(fā)神秘致命疾病并沒有在原始的統(tǒng)計材料上。這些疾病通常會在那些自認(rèn)為比其他美國人更有健康意識的家庭中出現(xiàn)。
In many cases, it crept up with frightening force after what had seemed a harmless, even healthful meal - a spinach salad with walnuts, a sandwich layered with spinach or, as for the Krause family, a baked, boneless, skinless piece of chicken on a small bed of spinach. Then what had seemed a simple bout of diarrhea in the morning often led to a harrowing, bloody race to the emergency room by midnight.
在許多情況下,這些疾病都悄無聲息的從那些看上去無害,甚至很健康的飲食中以令人恐懼的力量侵入人體,像菠菜核桃沙拉,含有一層菠菜的三明治,甚至也可能是像克勞斯家的情況一樣,即把一塊經(jīng)過烘烤的去皮去骨的雞肉放在作為配菜的菠菜上。然后,一場早上本來看似簡單的腹瀉卻導(dǎo)致了深夜突奔急診室的慘劇。
And around the country, some families still wait by bedsides, wondering which foods they could ever again feel safe giving their children, what the government or the spinach industry could have done to protect them, and, most of all, whether their loved ones will ever fully recover.
全國的一些家庭還在床邊等待,琢磨他們給孩子們提供什么樣的食物才是健康的,政府和菠菜行業(yè)本應(yīng)該做什么來保證他們的安全,更重要的是他們心愛的孩子能不能完全康復(fù)。
"Here you think you're feeding your child a great, healthy meal," Dennis Krause said sadly. "But here I was, poisoning him."
“你本來想你正在給你的孩子喂非常健康的食物,”丹尼斯·克勞斯杯悲傷的說。“但是恰恰相反,那些東西是毒藥。”
Not all E. coli is harmful to humans, but certain strains produce toxins that kill cells in the gut and in the blood vessels, leading to abdominal cramps and watery to bloody diarrhea, said Dr. John Flaherty, associate chief of the division of infectious disease at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.
西北大學(xué)芬伯格醫(yī)學(xué)院傳染病部的副主任約翰·弗蘭哈提博士說,并非所有的大腸桿菌都對人體有害,但某些特殊的大腸桿菌卻能產(chǎn)生毒素,殺死腸內(nèi)或者血管內(nèi)的細(xì)胞,導(dǎo)致下腹絞痛,引起稀的帶血的痢疾。
One area where the toxins can wreak particular havoc is in the kidneys; when it happens, Dr. Flaherty said, the inflamed cells lining the blood vessels get "roughed up," causing red blood cells to break open as they pass by and jam blood flow to the kidneys.
毒素能夠產(chǎn)生嚴(yán)重破壞的地方是腎;弗蘭哈提博士說,當(dāng)出現(xiàn)這一情況時,排列在血管上的發(fā)炎的細(xì)胞會遭到破壞,致使在紅血球經(jīng)過腎臟時流出來并使血液流到腎臟里。
"In the course of one week, he went from this healthy, lively little boy to a boy in a hospital bed fighting for his life," said Anne Grintjes, of Brookfield, Wis., whose 7-year-old son developed a dangerous form of kidney failure linked to E. coli, called hemolytic uremic syndrome. "He turned yellow and gray, literally. It was shocking and terrifying and unbelievable to watch."
“就在一周的時間里,他從一個將康活潑的小孩子變成了一個躺在醫(yī)院病床上茍延殘喘小孩”,威斯康星州布魯克菲爾德的安·格雷杰斯說,他的7歲的孩子感染了一種與大腸桿菌有關(guān)的極為危險的腎衰竭疾病,叫做溶血性尿毒綜合癥。“確切的講,他面黃肌瘦,蒼白不堪。太可怕了!簡直慘不忍睹!”
Of the 171 cases that have been confirmed as part of the spinach outbreak, more than half required hospitalization, and about 16 percent developed the dangerous hemolytic uremic syndrome.
在因菠菜爆發(fā)的疾病確診的171例病例中,超過一半的患者需要住院治療,大約有16%的患者感染了溶血性尿毒綜合癥。
Doctors say they cannot be certain what long-term effects the syndrome may have; it varies from person to person. Many patients recover entirely, they say, while others may suffer from chronic kidney problems and other health risks.
醫(yī)生表示他們還不能確定該綜合癥是否會有長期的影響,每個患者的情況各異。他們表示,很多患者完全恢復(fù)了,但其他的患者可能會受到慢性腎病和其他健康疾病的困擾。
Although the youngest children and the oldest adults are considered most vulnerable to getting sick from the bacteria and to struggling to recover from its effects, more than 70 percent of those who grew ill in this outbreak were somewhere in between: older than 4 and younger than 65.
雖然年幼的小孩和年老體衰的老年人最可能感染病菌,他們很難從疾病的影響中解脫出來,但是在本次達(dá)爆發(fā)中70%的患者是出于4到65歲之間。
At 27, Gwyn Wellborn of Salem, Ore., described a sudden onslaught of slicing, stabbing abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea in late August, days after eating baby spinach at work, thinking she was being especially virtuous. At first, doctors sent her home, Ms. Wellborn said, with a painkiller and a diagnosis of food poisoning. Hours later, though, the pain became so excruciating and the bleeding so constant, she said, that her husband rushed her back to a hospital.
俄勒岡州塞倫市27歲的溫格·威爾伯詳細(xì)描繪了她在上班的時候吃了些菠菜幼苗,當(dāng)時她想絕對不會有事的,幾天之后,也就是8月底,她經(jīng)歷了一次腹部刺痛,并伴有帶血痢疾。威爾伯說,開始的時候,醫(yī)生診斷她是食物中毒,給她開了些止痛藥后讓她回家。但是幾小時后,疼痛加劇,便血不斷,于是她的丈夫迅速把她送往醫(yī)院。
From there, she quickly deteriorated. Her kidneys began failing. "At one point, the doctors told my family there was nothing they could do, that that was it," she recalled. But after three transfusions and several weeks in a hospital, Ms. Wellborn went home.
從那時開始,她的身體狀況急劇惡化,他的腎開始衰弱。她回憶說:“醫(yī)生甚至于告訴我的家人他們無能為力了,當(dāng)時的確如此。”但是經(jīng)過3次輸血和在醫(yī)院幾周的修養(yǎng),她出院回家了。
Hers is one of at least four lawsuits filed in courts around the country by William D. Marler, a Seattle lawyer, in connection with the outbreak. Ms. Wellborn said she would not consider eating spinach anytime soon. "Not in a million years," she said.
她的案子是西雅圖律師威廉·D·馬勒接手上訴的全國4起與本次疫病暴發(fā)有關(guān)的四個案件中的一個。威爾伯夫人說近期任何時候她都不會想吃菠菜。她說:“一百萬年夜不會!”
Marion Graff, 77, a former bank clerk and widow from Manitowoc, Wis., is the nation's only confirmed fatality in the outbreak, but deaths in Maryland and Idaho are also considered "suspect" cases, federal authorities said on Friday.
威斯康星州馬尼托沃克77歲的寡婦馬里恩·格拉夫曾是一位銀行職員。她是疫病暴發(fā)中唯一的一位證實死亡的患者。但是,聯(lián)邦官員星期五表示,馬里蘭州和愛達(dá)荷州的死亡病例也認(rèn)為與疫病相關(guān)。
Kyle Allgood, 2, of Chubbuck, Idaho, died at a Utah hospital from cardiac arrest after contracting hemolytic uremic syndrome, his family said, a case Idaho authorities said was "probably connected" to the tainted spinach, although laboratory tests have been inconclusive. Kyle's mother, Robyn Allgood, said she had mixed vegetables into blended fruit and juice smoothies, as a way to get Kyle and her two daughters to eat vegetables, and had given him such a drink on Sept. 12.
愛達(dá)荷州查巴克2歲的凱爾·安爾古德因感染了溶血性尿毒綜合癥引起的心臟驟停在猶他醫(yī)院里死亡,他的家人說。愛達(dá)荷官員稱這一病例“可能”與菠菜污染有關(guān),盡管實驗室化驗沒有直接的證據(jù)。凱爾德母親羅賓·安爾古德說她曾把蔬菜與水果和果汁混合成飲料,以便讓凱爾和另外兩個女兒能夠吃到蔬菜,她在9月12日給凱爾喂食了這種飲料。
Three days later, she said, Kyle had flu-like symptoms, including severe diarrhea.
3天以后,她說,凱爾出現(xiàn)了流感癥狀,包括嚴(yán)重的痢疾。
On Wednesday, despite specialized treatment at a hospital in Salt Lake City, Kyle died, hours after his father, Jeff, said he had urged the boy "to fight for me."
在星期三,就在他爸爸杰夫說他鼓勵孩子“為了我要加油”后幾個小時,雖然在鹽湖城的醫(yī)院里接受了特別治療,凱爾還是死了。
Relatives tearfully recalled Kyle as generous and good-natured though mischievous - a boy known as the "stuntman" for his antics, which inspired fear and awe in adults.
親人滿含熱淚的回憶凱爾雖然有點淘氣,但是一個大方,生性善良的小孩,因為他令人敬畏的滑稽的動作,被人們譽為"絕技演員"
He liked to twirl his hair into knots, dance wildly to the music of Jack Johnson and give lingering kisses to his aunts, the family said. He was also impish;at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Kyle was pinching his nurses and ripping at his IV's until near his final moments, they said.
他的家人說,他喜歡把他的頭發(fā)打成結(jié),跟著邁克爾·杰克遜的音樂狂舞,跟他的阿姨親吻。他也很頑皮。他們講,在鹽湖城第一兒童醫(yī)療中心,凱爾在他生命的最后時刻還掐護(hù)士,去拔靜脈注射器。
In Maryland, an elderly woman died of E. coli on Sept. 13 after eating fresh spinach, state health officials confirmed, but because of a lack of DNA specimens from the victim, officials have yet to determine whether it was the same strain of E. coli that infected others who ate spinach. Family members identified the woman as June E. Dunning, 86, of Hagerstown.
在馬里蘭,一位年長的婦女9月13日因大腸桿菌去世。她是在食用了新鮮菠菜后去世的,周健康官員證實,但是由于缺乏受害者的DNA樣本,官方還沒有決定是否是感染了與其他食用菠菜的患者一樣的大腸桿菌而致病死亡的。其家人證實,她叫朱·E·鄧恩,現(xiàn)年86歲,住在黑格斯敦。
Warren Swartz, Ms. Dunning's son-in-law, said she had eaten steamed spinach from a package on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 and baby spinach from a bag on Aug. 30. She had signs of E. coli, including rectal bleeding and bloody diarrhea, on Sept. 1 and went to the hospital the next day.
鄧恩夫人的女婿沃倫·舒瓦茨說她在8月30日和9月1日食用了包裝好的蒸菠菜,在8月30日食用了袋裝的菠菜苗。她有感染大腸桿菌的癥狀,包括9月1日她出現(xiàn)的直腸出血和帶血痢疾,第二天她就被送往醫(yī)院。
For the Krause family, of McFarland, Wis., the illness began a few days after a family dinner on Aug. 24. First, their 15-year-old daughter grew ill. Then their 9-year-old, who was healthy enough that he had a perfect attendance record last year in third grade, grew even more ill, and has suffered debilitating effects, including acute renal failure, fluid buildup near the heart, raised blood pressure, soaring blood sugar.
對于威斯康星州麥克法蘭的克勞斯一家來說,疾病是在8月24日后一家人吃完晚飯后開始的。首先,他們15歲的女兒染病了;然后是他們一向十分健康的9歲孩子。他在去年他們年級的的出勤率非常好。他的病情越來越重,出現(xiàn)了虛弱的癥狀,包括明顯的腎衰竭、心臟附近積水、血壓升高和居高不下的血糖。
In a hospital cafeteria here, miles from their home, the Krauses at first could only bring themselves to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Everything else - lunch meats , salads, everything - scared them.
在距家?guī)子⒗锏尼t(yī)院食堂里,開除克勞斯一家僅僅只能帶花生醬和果凍三明治來吃。別的一切東西,包括午餐肉、沙拉,都讓他們草木皆兵。
"For me, there's anger and paranoia and fear for others - for the safety of food we get that's supposed to be monitored," Ms. Krause, 47, said. "I don't know what to trust. Should we grow it all ourselves?"
“對我來講,我對那些據(jù)說是受到監(jiān)測的食物的安全性感到憤怒、多疑甚至是恐懼,”47歲的克勞斯夫人說。“我不知道還能相信什么。難道得我們自己種植我們要吃的食物嗎?”
On Friday, their strawberry-blond boy lay weakly in his hospital bed, surrounded by balloons and cards from the school where he says he fears falling behind his class. He had physical therapy, then occupational therapy to begin rebuilding his body. He told his father he only wanted to be well, to somehow rewind to the day before the spinach.
星期五,他們紅頭發(fā)的孩子躺在醫(yī)院的病床上,身邊擺滿了學(xué)校里用的氣球和卡片,他說他擔(dān)心在學(xué)校里落下功課。他接受過物理療法,然后是作業(yè)療法,開始復(fù)原他的身體。他告訴他父親他只想好起來,重新回到他們吃菠菜以前的日子。
A few days ago, his body seemed to turn a corner and doctors removed him from the dialysis machine, a crucial step toward recovery. His parents have not asked when he might be well enough to go home; they said it was too early to look ahead.
幾天前,他的身體看起來有了轉(zhuǎn)變,隨后醫(yī)生把他從透析機(jī)上解脫下來,這是身體恢復(fù)健康的關(guān)鍵一步。他的父母還沒有詢問他什么時候能夠出院,他認(rèn)為現(xiàn)在問這個問題還為時過早。
"I keep thinking we will at some point go home and it'll all be like it was," said Mr. Krause, 52. "But we don't know yet what the long-term effects are. He will be monitored probably for the rest of his life. It'll never be the same."
“我一直在想我們應(yīng)該可以回家,一切都會像以前一樣,”52歲的克勞斯說。“但我們不知道會有什么長期的影響。可能他將來一生都需要留意,絕對不可能跟完全沒有傷害一樣。