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The world is entering a time when common infections caused by bacteria will be deadly. And doctors are alarmed.
世界如今正在进入一个时期，细菌引起的常见感染将有可能致命。这给医生们敲响了警钟。
"You all of a sudden understand what it was like to practice medicine maybe 50, 70, 80 years ago, when there weren't antibiotics."
"这时候你突然间就明白了50年、70年或者80年前，医生们在没有抗生素的时候是如何行医的。"
New antibiotics are urgently needed against bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. Those most at risk: residents of nursing homes, hospital patients, and children. Children may have weaker immune systems than adults, and they receive smaller doses of antibiotics than adults do.
现在医学界急需新型抗生素，用以消灭那些对人体构成最大威胁的细菌。而处境最危险人群分别为：居住在私人疗养院的人、住院患者以及儿童。相比成年人，儿童的免疫系统较弱，接受的抗生素剂量也比成年人要小。
"For the longest time we've had a number of different antibiotics in the pipeline at any given time, and so whenever we ran out of the ability to use one, we would move to the next one."
"很长一段时间以来，我们都随时准备了多种不同的抗生素，因此每当一种抗生素失效时，我们都可以寄希望于下一种。"
But that's no longer possible, in 2010, the US began work to develop new antibiotics.
但上述盛况如今已经不可能了。于是2010年，美国开始开发新的抗生素。
"There are antibiotics in the pipeline, but the numbers are insufficient. They are insufficient to deal with the increasing rates of antibiotic-resistant bacteria."
"虽然还有尚在开发中的抗生素，但数量却不足。我们手头的抗生素不足以应对耐药细菌的增长速度。"
And they are insufficient to deal with the normal mutations. Bacteria are constantly changing to find new ways to resist the drugs that kill them. Once they develop that ability, they can pass it on so other bacteria can become drug-resistant as well.
它们也无力处理一般突变。细菌在不断地进化，以找到新方法来抵抗用于消灭它们的药物。一旦它们培养出这种能力，便可以传授给其他细菌，这样其他细菌也就产生了耐药性。
"We are seeing greater than 2 million episodes of antibiotic resistant infections in people each year in the U.S. alone. And twenty-three thousand of these episodes result in death."
"我们现在每年都可以看到有200多万人产生耐药性感染，单单是在美国这一个国家就有这么庞大的数目了。而其中2.3万病例最终都会导致死亡。"
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked hospitals and doctors to be careful not to overuse antibiotics. But beyond overuse, there are other reasons these drugs are being rendered powerless.
美国疾病控制与预防中心要求医院和医生一定要格外小心，不要过度使用抗生素。但除了过度使用，这些药物失效还有其他原因。
"Antibiotic resistance is not only being generated by using too many antibiotics, but also by spread of infection from lack of hygiene, from unintended contact with soiled surfaces, things of that sort, so the infection-control side is equally important."
"抗生素耐药性不只是由过量使用抗生素导致的，也可能是因为感染的扩散，而缺乏医疗设施，意外接触土壤表面等等，反正就是这类的东西都会导致感染，这样看来，实施感染控制也同样重要。"
Patients can also help. On its website, the CDC says take antibiotics as prescribed and finish the prescription, even if you feel better. Still, urgent action on a global level is needed to prevent the catastrophe that a post-antibiotic era would cause.
病人自己也可以尽一份力。美国疾病控制与预防中心的网站上写到，即使患者症状减轻，仍需按处方服用抗生素，而且要完成处方的要求。另外，我们需要在全球范围内采取紧急行动，以防止抗生素后时代可能会造成的灾难。
Carol Pearson, VOA news, Washington.
VOA新闻，卡罗·皮尔森于华盛顿为您播报。
