双语 | 你知道中国第一个防疫口罩是谁发明的吗？（TED: 1918年大流感多么害怕）
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原文自《纽约时报》作者：Christos Lynteris
P1
Anti-epidemic masks as we know them today were invented in China more than a century ago, during the Chinese state’s first effort to contain an epidemic by biomedical means. When the pneumonic plague struck the northeastern provinces of the Chinese Empire (a region known then as Manchuria) in the autumn of 1910, the Chinese authorities appointed Wu Lien-teh (also known as Wu Liande), a young and brilliant Cambridge-educated Chinese doctor from British Malaya, to oversee efforts to stem the outbreak. The plague was about to meet its match.
我们今天所熟知的防疫口罩是一个多世纪前于中国发明的。当时中国首次采用生物医学方法遏制传染病。1910年秋天，中国清王朝的东北各省（时称满洲）爆发肺炎性鼠疫，于是清政府指派伍连德遏制疫情。伍连德毕业于剑桥大学，是一位年轻、杰出的中国医生。鼠疫即将迎来克星。
P2
Soon after arriving in the field, Wu asserted that this plague wasn’t being spread by rats, as had been assumed, but was airborne. The statement was heresy, and turned out to be correct. Wu adapted existing surgeons’ masks — which were made of a cotton wad encased in gauze — into easy-to-wear protective devices and ordered Chinese doctors, nurses and sanitary staff to use them. He also made sure that the masks were worn by patients and their immediate contacts, and he distributed some among the general public.
实地调查后，伍连德确信这场鼠疫并非人们所设想的由鼠传染给人，而是通过空气传播的。这在当时被认为是异端学说，事实证明却是正确的。伍连德将纱布包裹棉花制成的外科口罩改成易于佩戴的防护装置，要求中国的医生、护士和清洁人员佩戴。同时，确保患者及其直接接触者佩戴上口罩，并向公众分发口罩。
P3
Wu’s Japanese and European colleagues on the ground were skeptical until the death of an eminent French doctor who wouldn’t cover up even while attending patients. Gauze masks were soon adopted, extensively. Some wearers considered the masks not simply medical devices, but talismans.
起初，现场的日本和欧洲医生对戴口罩起保护作用这一观点持怀疑态度，直到一著名的法国医生在照看病人时不戴口罩，最终离世，他们才改变看法了。纱布口罩很快受到广泛使用。对于一些人来说，口罩不仅仅是医疗用具，还成了护身符。
P4
Sociologist Peter Baehr noted: “Mask culture” fosters a sense of a fate shared, mutual obligation and civic duty. It brings together people faced with a common threat and helps mitigate one of the secondary dangers posed by an epidemic: anomie, or the breakdown of social norms.
社会学家彼得·贝尔（Peter Baehr）指出：“ ‘口罩文化’ 激发了公民同命运、共义务的意识和责任感，使人们在面临同样的威胁时能够团结起来，从而减轻传染病带来的次生危机，即社会准则的失范或崩溃。”
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口罩的种类
anti-epidemic masks 防疫口罩
surgeons’ masks 外科口罩
gauze masks 纱布口罩
曾致死4000万人的1918年大流感有多么害怕
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