The virus “Ebola” is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That’s     1     the virus was discovered in 1976. A person can only get Ebola through direct contact with an infected person’s body fluids, for example, sweat or spit. Additionally, the virus can get into your body     2     your eyes and mouth. That’s why health care workers are supposed to keep themselves completely     3     (cover) while treating patients.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak is spreading fast in Western Africa, taking over 900     4     (life) so far. The health systems in this area are severely lacking in resources, and health care workers may not have enough protective clothing     5     working in rural clinics. For now, all doctors can do     6     (be) to treat the symptoms and provide some care.

There are several promising drugs and vaccines (疫苗) in     7     (develop), but since Ebola is less common — and research about it is not     8     (good) carried out — there is no drug or vaccine that     9     (approve) for use in humans. Many of the other drugs and vaccines have not yet been tested in humans. The WHO (World Health Organization) is meeting next week     10     (discuss) whether experimental treatments should be used during this outbreak.

3 . Dr. Sara McLin thought she made the right choice by going to an in-network emergency room near her Florida home after her 4-year-old burned his hand on a stove last Memorial Day weekend.

Her family is insured through her husband’s employer, HCA Healthcare, a Nashville-based health system that operates more hospitals than any other system in the nation. So McLin knew that a nearby stand-alone emergency room, HCA Florida Lutz Emergency, would be in their plan’s provider network.

But McLin said a doctor there told her she couldn’t treat her son, Keeling, because he had second- and third-degree burns that needed a higher level of care. The doctor referred them to the burn center at HCA Florida Blake Hospital, about a 90-minute drive away.

McLin, who is a dentist, said the doctor told her the stand-alone ER would not charge for the visit because they did not provide treatment.

“I don’t remember exactly how she phrased it, but something along the lines of--we won’t even call this a visit, because we can’t do anything. ” McLin said.

At Blake Hospital, a doctor diagnosed Keeling with a second-degree burn, bandaged his hand, and sent them home with instructions on how to care for the wound.

“I didn’t think anything more of it. ” McLin said.

Then the bills came.

Total Bill: For the emergency room visit, Envision Physician Services billed $829 to insurance and about $72 to the family. HCA Florida Trinity Hospital billed Keeling about $129, noting it had applied an “uninsured discount”. A list showed the original charge had been nearly $1, 509 before adjustments and discounts.

She said she called her insurer, United Healthcare, and a representative told her not to pay the bill.

After being contacted by KHN, Aliese Polk, an Envision spokesperson, said in an email that Envision would give up the debt, apologizing to Keeling’s family “for the misunderstanding. ”

4 . April 13, 2021 — The FDA and CDC on Tuesday recommended that use of the Johnson& Johnson COVID-19 be paused after reports of blood clots(血栓) in patients receiving the shot, the FDA and CDC announced Tuesday.

In a statement, FDA said the agency is looking into six reported cases of a rare and severe blood clot occurring in patients who received the vaccine.

The pause is intended to give time to warn the public to this “very rare” condition, experts said during a joint CDC-FDA media report Tuesday.

“It was clear to us that we needed to alert the public,” Janet Woodcock, MD, acting FDA officer said. The move also will allow time for the healthcare community to learn what they need to know about how to diagnose, treat and report any additional cases.

The CDC will hold a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization(免疫) Practices on Wednesday to review the cases.

Of the six reported cases linked to the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, all are in women between the ages of 18 and 48 years, one woman died and another ended up in critical(严重的) condition. “I know the information today will be very concerning to Americans who have already received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine,” said Anne Schuchat, MD, principal deputy director at the CDC. “For people who got the vaccine more than one month ago, the risk is very low at this time,” she added. “For people who recently got the vaccine, in the last couple of weeks, look for symptoms.”

Headache, leg pain, belly pain and shortness of breath were among the reported symptoms. All six cases arose within 6 to 13 days of receipt of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

“I know this has been a long and difficult pandemic, and people are tired of the steps they have to take,” Schuchat said. “Steps taken today make sure the health care system is ready to diagnose, treat and report any additional cases and the public has the information necessary to stay safe.”

6 . Hospice (临终安养院) services benefit only about one person in three who dies in the US. “There are still over one million Americans who die each year without receiving hospice services,” according to a report produced in 2003. And for most who do get hospice care, their time in hospice is so short that staff members often lack the opportunity to provide the best care for their physical and emotional needs.

There are several reasons that more patients do not go into hospice care earlier. One is that Medicare (医疗保险) doesn’t cover the cost of patients’ life-extending treatment if they enter hospice. Medicare also requires that the doctor referring someone for hospice care must declare that the patient is expected to die within six months. As a result, some doctors hesitate about making an early referral to avoid being accused of cheating. Finally, there are simply not enough hospice centers and services available to meet the needs of dying patients throughout the country.

Many patients still have some concern over how hospice works. The philosophy of hospice is to neither accelerate nor postpone death. As Dr. Matt Kestenbaum, a hospice director, put it: “We let nature take its course, and we give patients all the things they need to be comfortable.”

Dying “naturally” in hospice does not deny patients the treatment for common diseases like blood clots. Hospice expenses are automatically covered by Medicare and most insurers provide hospice coverage as well.

Choosing hospice care does not mean patients lose the services of their personal doctors. They can return to regular insurance benefits when they leave hospice care because their condition improves or they want a therapy the hospice does not provide.

One thing bothering doctors is that patients will lose hope if they go into hospice. But the goal should be to refocus hope on what might be realistically achieved in the time remaining. A patient who enters hospice can have the opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends and settle unfinished business.

Last Friday, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center successfully replaced     1     heart of a very sick man with a specially-grown pig’s heart. It is the first time that doctors     2     (do) this surgery by now. After three days, the patient appears to be doing very well. Dr. Bartley Griffith who is the first surgeon     3     ( perform ) the operation, said this had never been done before. David Bennett, 57, is the man offered the heart. He was given special     4     (permit) to have the unusual operation because without it, he would have died.

Transplants (移植) usually come from people who have died, but want     5     (they) organs to be used to help other people live. There are far     6     (large) numbers of patients who need organs than those of organs. Over 3,800 Americans got heart transplants last year. But there are     7     (rough) 110,000 people who are waiting for some kind of transplant. For years, scientists have tried to figure out     8     they transplant organs from other animals into humans. This is hard because the human body almost always rejects something that isn’t its own.

Muhammad is one of the     9     (doctor) who helped perform the surgery. He’s been working to develop methods to help prevent pig organs     10     being rejected in humans. Doctors are watching Mr. Bennett’s recovery.

8 . It’s been well over a year since COVID-19 first appeared. Although the virus continues to be a problem in many parts of the world, things are starting to turn back in our favor with the help of vaccines(疫苗).

Vaccine development started in February 2020, when it became clear to scientists that a solution to the pandemic would need a global effort to vaccinate as many people as possible. The CO—VAX（COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access）mechanism was then created to ensure equal access to safe and effective vaccines for all countries and regions, according to Business World.

Of course，this would take great effort，since vaccines typically take years to develop. However，COVID—19 needed faster development. The first COVID vaccine—the Pfizer vaccine—was approved by UK health authorities on Dec 2, 2020, according to science journal Nature.

This was made possible through the use of mRNA (信使核糖核酸). Vaccines developed with mRNA use the virus' spike protein (棘突蛋白) to create antibodies (抗体) that can fight the virus. Companies like Moderna and Pfizer have created their own mRNA vaccines, according to the BBC.

However，these vaccines must be stored at very low temperatures, which is not possible everywhere. In response, Chinese companies like Sinopharm and Sinovac have developed vaccines using dead viruses instead of spike proteins. These vaccines can be kept at regular temperatures.

Although there have been rumors about vaccines being unsafe, the majority of people seem to realize the importance of vaccination for building mass immunity in order to stop the virus from spreading.

Zhang Wenhong，China’s leading expert on infectious diseases，said it’s good that the world has come to understand that the vaccines will protect us, according to Global Times. Zhang added that human beings belong to one family. Vaccines are a kind of medicine that we all must share in order to stay safe and healthy.