Facing the epidemic situation, how to establish a working mechanism of integrative TCM and Western medicine treatment? At present, the reporter had a special interview with Huang Luqi, academician and  president of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and the  leader of the expert group of the pneumonia joint prevention and control work of National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine to cope with the novel coronavirus infection.

Formation of the first national medical team of Chinese medicine

On the first day of the new year, National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine relied on  China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences to set up the first national medical team of TCM  by to rush to Wuhan to support  local efforts to prevent and treat pneumonia caused by  novel coronavirus  infection. Yan Shujiang, Vice Commissioner of National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Huang Luqi, president of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, led the team  to the pneumonia battlefield  for the prevention and control of novel coronavirus infection by TCM.

Jinyintan Hospital is a hospital of infectious disease in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. All the patients admitted to it  were confirmed cases in critical condition. Jinyintan Hospital handed over the medical work of the ward in the south first district to the medical team, which laid the foundation for TCM to prevent and control the novel coronavirus pneumonia, and successfully opened the battlefield for TCM to prevent and control the novel coronavirus pneumonia. TCM and  Western medicine could then work together to prevent and control the epidemic.

TCM played an important role in fighting SARS in 2003, and played an active role in early intervention, blocking disease development, reducing symptoms, shortening the course of disease, reducing the dosage of Western medicine hormones and toxic side effects, and reducing mortality, World Health Organization affirmed. However, there is currently no effective medicine in Western medicine for pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus.  The treatment was mainly supportive and symptomatic.

Huang Luqi said that in the treatment of pneumonitis infected by the novel coronavirus, TCM can improve the overall condition of patients, reduce symptoms and shorten the course of disease. Integrative TCM and Western medicine should be applied to build a solid line of defense for epidemic prevention and control.

Improve the efficiency of TCM clinical treatment

Not long ago, Beijing's first pneumonia patient infected with the novel coronavirus was treated at Ditan Hospital. After TCM experts gave him a diagnosis and treatment, his temperature returned to normal, his symptoms gradually improved, and respiratory nucleic acid secretions were negative. The patient was cured and discharged from hospital. The confirmed patients returning from Hubei were cured and left hospital after being given symptomatic treatment and TCM treatment .

"Finding highest level evidence-based evidence of the efficacy of TCM is conducive to optimizing clinical protocols and improving the efficiency of TCM clinical treatment." Huang Luqi said. After entering the ward of Jinyintan Hospital, according to the inspections and rounds, combined with the practice of local medical treatment staff, the medical team  carried out video consultation with academician Wang Yongyan, Chao Enxiang and Xue Boshou, national master of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Liu Jingyuan,  Zhang Hongchun etc. far away in Beijing. The TCM diagnosis and treatment plan was revised to strive for the greater role of TCM.

Huang Luqi introduced that when it was in the period of prevention and treatment, medical observation period and a clinical treatment period should be set, and the outpatients should be set in different levels. For outpatients with fatigue, gastrointestinal discomfort, or fever, they should be first set up for medical observation.  It is recommended that patients should use Chinese patent  medicines that have undergone drug screening studies during SARS to treat colds and flu that may exist and reduce stress. For inpatients, they should be divided into light, intermediate, severe and recovery periods according to the critical condition of the patients. Each period is clearly prescribed to make the use more clear in each place. It is recommended to TCM injection should be used as soon as possible to improve immunity, to relieve symptoms and to shorten the course of disease.

TCM in the curbing the spread of the disease is not only medicine.

In the Jinyintan Hospital, TCM decoction pieces and formula granules are seriously insufficient, and the TCM injection only remove blood stasis, which is not conducive to the participation of  TCM in the prevention and control the epidemic. After the medical team understood the situation on the spot, the drug security team contacted and coordinated extensively through multiple channels. A group of TCM companies responded to the call to donate medicine to Jinyintan Hospital. The TCM guarantee supply platform was quickly established.

In fact, TCM is not the only restricted to the insufficient medicine in the epidemic prevention and control. Many TCM practitioners are very enthusiastic, but they lack scope for their abilities. This requires institutionalized participation mechanisms.

National Health Commission's "Notice on Further Improving the Treatment of Novel Coronavirus Infected Pneumonia Combined with TCM and Western Medicine" requires that medical staff should improve their ability to integrate TCM and Western medicine, standardize the development of integrated TCM and Western medicine, and focus on combining clinical treatment with scientific research, to ensure case information resource sharing and interoperability.

How to better play the role of TCM in preventing and controlling the epidemic ? Huang Luqi suggested that a TCM diagnosis and treatment plan be formulated at the national level, and provinces and cities should formulate local medicine diagnosis and treatment plans based on local characteristics, and establish an institutionalized participation mechanism for TCM to participate in epidemic rescue. We should strengthen the training of TCM and Western medical staff, and improve the ability of medical staff to treat with TCM and Western medicine. TCM experts participate in medical treatment expert groups in various places. When necessary, TCM experts should set up separate groups to highlight the unique role and value of TCM in epidemic prevention.