A NEW hope for novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) patients arises as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, which was prescribed and proved effective in treating the virus by a Guangzhou hospital, was put into mass-production Thursday after being green-lighted by Guangdong’s drug watchdog.

    Dubbed Pneumonia No. 1, the formula, which contains five kinds of traditional Chinese medicine components, was first used at Guangzhou No. 8 People’s Hospital in recent weeks and will be used for treating coronavirus-infected patients with mild symptoms in Guangdong Province starting next week, according to local Chinese media reports.

    It is a prescription medicine and can only be used by hospitals. It is produced by Guangdong EFang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. only at the amounts required by hospitals, according to the reports.

    At present, the medicine is only authorized for use by hospitals in Guangdong Province.

    According to Tan Xinghua, director with the TCM department of Guangzhou No. 8 People’s Hospital, the remedy’s recipe, which targets the novel coronavirus, was developed according to the hospital’s experience with treating pneumonia over the past decade.

    It is effective in patients with mild symptoms. Weeklong observations of nearly 50 patients found they had showed improved lung conditions after taking the medicine. Fifty percent of patients showed no signs of coughing, pharyngalgia symptoms disappeared in 52.4 percent and 69.6 percent had no acratia manifestation. No patients’ conditions worsened under the treatment.

    The product, in particles, is valid for six months after the date of manufacture.

    Tan reminds the public that Pneumonia No. 1 isn’t a preventive medicine and should only be taken under the guidance of doctors at designated hospitals. Healthy individuals should not take it.

    TCM can play an active role in treating patients with pneumonia caused by the virus, Zhang Boli, one of the 14 members of the national research team to prevent and control the outbreak, said last month.

    TCM aims to enhance the ability of the human body to fight the virus and is helpful in alleviating fever, containing the progression of the disease, lowering the dosage of corticosteroids and preventing complications, he said.(Han Ximin)

    quired him to wear a mask.   

    (Han Ximin)

    Local Daily Report

    Total: 316

    New: 2

    Recovered: 21

    Death toll: 0