Anglais medical : Tout savoir sur la poliomyélite

Ce nouveau cours d’anglais, élaboré par Virginia Allum, auteur et consultante EMP (English for Medical Purposes) traite de la poliomyélite. N'hésitez pas à vous servir du dictionnaire en ligne Wordreference.  Vous trouverez à la fin de cet article les corrections des exercices qui vous sont proposés téléchargeables au format pdf.

Vocabulary : Poliomyelitis

Activity 1 - Match the terms with the French translation.

Activity 2 -  Complete the definitions.

1. _________________: respiratory illness with fever and cough that stops within a few days
2. _________________: transmission of a disease when contaminated faecal particles from one person are ingested by another person
3. _________________: new muscle weakness in muscles previously affected by polio
4. _________________: condition which, if left untreated can lead to death 
5. _________________: wasting of muscle often caused by lack of physical inactivity
6. _________________: tightening of muscles, tendons and ligaments
7. _________________: neuronal cells forming the main part of the central nervous system
8. _________________: abnormal condition which affects the function of the foot

Activity 3 - Read the text and answer the questions

Poliomyelitis. Polio is a serious viral infection transmitted through the faeco-oral route or through ingestion of food or water contaminated with human faeces. Although previously common worldwide, it currently only exists in a few countries as it is now preventable. The number of polio cases in the UK declined significantly after the introduction of routine vaccination in the mid-1950s resulting in no cases of polio in the UK since the mid-80s.
Many people with polio are unaware that they are infected and do not display any symptoms, however, a small number develop a flu-like illness up to 21 days after they have been infected. The polio virus causes temporary or permanent paralysis which can be life threatening if respiratory muscles are affected. In a small number of cases, the polio virus attacks the grey matter in the spinal cord causing paralysis of the legs which develop over hours or days. In cases of temporary paralysis movement returns slowly over the following weeks and months, although some patients are left with residual muscle weakness, atrophy, contractures or deformities of the feet and legs. In rare cases, patients may develop post-polio syndrome if similar symptoms develop up to several decades later.

1. A drop in cases of polio from the middle of the 20th century was attributed to …
   A  polio antibodies
   B  polio vaccination
   C  polio drugs
2. Polio has been _____________ in the UK since the mid-1980s.
   A  eradicated
   B  evaluated
   C  modified
3. Initially, patients with poliomyelitis may  …
   A  have muscle pains
   B  have influenza   
   C  be asymptomatic
4. If polio affects the diaphragm and intercostal muscles it can …
   A  lead to serious breathing difficulties
   B  cause wheezing and  bronchospasm
   C  result in difficulty in- and exhalating
5. Rarely, polio affects the central nervous system …
   A  causing paralysis which lasts a few hours
   B  resulting in paralysis of the lower limbs
   C  leading to short-term paralysis
6. Patients who have temporary paralysis …
   A  may have a return of polio symptoms
   B  may develop antibodies to the disease  
   C  will be immune to the condition
7. The development of a syndrome resembling the condition …
   A  usually develops several months before paralysis
   B  is often evident a few years after the first episode
   C  can occur several years after the incubation period

Activity 4 - Read the information and complete the matching activity

Vocabulary - Vaccines

- attenuated vaccine:  also live vaccine: a weakened vaccine which causes an immune response without the severe effects of the disease.
- booster shot: another dose of a vaccine given after a period of time to re-expose a person to the antigen of a disease to improve their immune system response.
- community immunity: also called herd immunity:  sufficient number of people who are immune to a disease after vaccination or prior exposure to the disease to make the spread of the disease unlikely
- conjugate vaccine: joining of two compounds to increase the effectiveness of a vaccine
- immunity: ability of an organism to resist infection
-inactivated vaccine: vaccine made from viruses and bacteria that have been killed so they cannot cause disease.
- polysaccharide vaccines: vaccines composed of long chains of sugar molecules which resemble the surface of certain bacteria.
- thimerosal: a type of preservative containing mercury which had been used in some vaccines since the 1930s. Since the late 1990s, EMEA (European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products) policies advise against its use
- vaccination:  injection of a killed or weakened infectious organism to prevent a disease.
- vaccinia: a virus used to produce the smallpox vaccine because it is related to both smallpox and cowpox viruses.
- vaccine: something which is injected, taken by mouth or as a spray that produces immunity from a disease

Match the terms with their meanings.

Téléchargez les corrections au format PDF

Virginia ALLUM Author and Consultant in English for Medical Purpose