parasite 復習
手術を終え現在療養中の、亡命した北朝鮮の兵士の体の中から寄生虫が発見されたことによって、北朝鮮の衛生環境や、健康状態を明らかにしています。
Parasites, infections in North Korean soldier who defected reveal country's conditions
Hospital records from a soldier who defected from North Korea this month offer telling details about health problems in the closed country.
The 24-year-old soldier had parasitic infections and a dangerous hepatitis infection — conditions that speak to poor sanitation and rough conditions in North Korea.
Most shocking, perhaps, are reports of large parasitic worms, some measuring 11 inches, recovered from his intestines.
"An estimated 5 million people in North Korea have intestinal roundworms. That's 20 percent of the population," said Dr. Peter Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor.
Doctors found the parasites — likely Ascaris roundworms — while repairing intestinal damage from multiple bullet wounds the soldier sustained during his escape. The eggs of these worms are frequently found in the soil, especially in developing countries that use human waste as an inexpensive fertilizer. Once inside the body, these eggs hatch to form larvae that eventually develop into large worms that infect the small intestine. They can grow to more than 13 inches long.
山田昌弘の『パラサイトシングルの時代』（筑摩書房）で一躍有名になった単語ですが、"parasite"をrevisitします。
『ジーニアス英和辞典』第４版（大修館）で調べてみると、「寄生動物、寄生虫、寄生植物」とあり、比喩的には「居候、食客、他人にたかる人、やっかい者」という意味がありました。今回の場合は寄生虫による感染症を引き起こしていたことが述べられています。"para"には「病的異常」という意味があり、「位置する」という意味の"site"が付くことによって、「寄生虫」という意味は想像しやすいかと思います。LDOCEでは、"a plant or animal that lives on or in another plant or animal and gets food from it"や"a lazy person who does not work but depends on other people – used to show disapproval"と定義されています。(Akim)
