Study on Traditional Chinese Medicine for Treating COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19, new coronavirus pneumonia, refers to viral pneumonia caused by new coronavirus (named as 2019-nCoV), with fever, cough, headache, fatigue, difficulty breathing and other symptoms as the main clinical manifestations. The earliest COVID-19 patients in our country were found in Wuhan. The virus is highly infectious and the infection is usually in 14 days from infection to onset. The clinical characteristics of COVID-19 infection is complex and can be roughly classified into mild, moderate, severe and critically ill patients. To get the infection controlled, China has carried out the combination therapy of Chinese and western medicine. In the aspect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy, the body has been regarded as a organic whole. In different cases or stages, TCM therapy has been modified according to the details of patients. TCM therapy emphasizes the balance of vital qi and pathogenic factors. In this review, we discussed the effective Chinese medicines included in "New Coronavirus Pneumonia Diagnosis and Treatment Program" and potential mechanisms of TCM therapy when treating COVID-19.