Deaths per day. We have lost many nurses and doctors. Special trains carry away the dead. For several days there were no coffins and the bodies piled up."

Since 1918, the HIN1 virus has mutated. Now there is a mutation called H5N1. When this mutation first appeared in China in 1996, there was a desperate search for a medicine to deal with it. The pharmaceutical company Roche came up with a drug called Tamiflu.

Tamiflu does not kill H5N1, but stops it making copies of itself. If given early enough, vaccinations of Tamiflu could perhaps save many lives. However, the virus will continue to mutate, and might become resistant to Tamiflu. The next mutation may already be with us by the time you're reading this!

Exercise 6. Read the sentences and decide if they are true (T) or false (F).

1. A pandemic is a type of virus.

2. Viruses reproduce outside your body.

3. More people died from Spanish flu than were killed in the First World War.

4. H1N1 is the name of a pandemic.

5. H5N1 is an antiviral drug.

6. Tamiflu is made by Roche.

7. Tamiflu stops H5N1 spreading.

UNIT THIRTY-FOUR

I Speaking

Anesthesia

I. Speaking: Anesthesia

Exercise 1. Read the text

A. "Anesthesia" means "loss of sensation". Drugs that cause anesthesia work by blockingthe signals that pass along your nerves to your brain. This stops you feeling pain. When thedrugs wear off, you start to feel normal sensations again.

B. The development of effective anesthetics in the 19^th century was an important factor insuccessful surgery. Before this time, few operations were possible, and surgeons were judged bytheir speed. Some doctors used alcohol or morphine to reduce the pain, but patients were usuallyheld or strapped down. Many died on the operating table. Anesthesia meant that surgeons could take more time and perform more complex procedures.

Ether was one of earliest anesthetics, but it had some drawbacks - for example, it could cause vomiting. It was quickly replaced by chloroform, which was more potent and easier to use than ether. However, it was not as safe to use as ether, and could cause sudden death. By the 1920s, intravenous induction agents were introduced. They enabled patients to fall asleep quickly and pleasantly. In the 1940s muscle relaxants became available.

C. Anesthesia can be given in different ways, and not all anesthesia makes youunconscious.

-Local anesthesia numbs a small part of your body. You stay conscious but free from pain.

- Regional anesthesia can be used for operations on larger or deeper parts of the body. The most common regional anesthetics (also known as regional "blocks") are spinal and epidural anesthetics. These can be used for operations on the lower body, such as cesarean sections, bladder operations, or hip replacements. You stay conscious but free from pain.

-General anesthesia is a state of controlled unconsciousness, and you feel nothing. It is essential for some operations such as abdominal surgery. As the anesthetic drugs wear off, your consciousness starts to return.

D. Modern monitoring systems and a greater understanding of the functions of the bodymean that anesthesia is now very safe. Fewer than 1 in 250,000 deaths during operations aredirectly related to anesthesia.

Exercise 2. Choose the best headings (1-6) to match sections of the text (A-D). There are two more headings than you need.

1. Some Types of Anesthesia

2. Death on the Operating Table

3. A Short History of Anesthesia

4. Anesthetic Nurses

5. What is Anesthesia?

6. Anesthesia Today

Exercise 3. Answer these questions based on the text.