In a clinical trial of 102 patients with mild symptoms in Wuhan, patients with combined treatments compared with the control group of patients receiving only Western medicine, Yu said. Their recovery rate was 33% higher, she added.
In another study of more serious cases, patients receiving combined treatments also left hospital sooner than the control group and had greater levels of oxygen in their blood and a higher lymphocyte count — an important indicators of the health of recovering patients, according to Yu.
Last month, China’s National Health Commission recommended a TCM prescription, Qingfei Paidu decoction (QPD), in an updated version of the guideline: the “lung-cleansing and detoxifying soup”
The prescription is promoted by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the National Health Commission as a suitable remedy for patients with mild to serious symptoms, and has since been widely used in Wuhan and other provinces.
Tong Xiaolin, chief researcher of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said 1,261 novel coronavirus patients in 10 provinces took the decoction, with 1,102 recovering and symptoms no longer appearing in 29, a further 71 showing improvement and no cases deteriorating.
A recent peer reviewed study published in the Lancet detailed that of 701 confirmed cases treated by Qingfei Paidu decoction (QPD) , 130 cases were cured and discharged, clinical symptoms of 51 cases disappeared, 268 cases of symptoms improved, and 212 cases of stable symptoms without aggravation. The effective cure rate of QPD against COVID-19 is over 90 %.
