BACKGROUND: Over 65 million people have long COVID. Evidence for using Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) to treat long COVID is growing. A systematic review of evidence for guiding clinical decision is warranted. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects and safety of CHM in alleviating the severity of dyspnea, fatigue, exercise intolerance, depression, anxiety and insomnia in long COVID adults based on registered randomized clinical trials (RCT). SEARCH STRATEGY: World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and Chinese Clinical Trial Registry were searched for registered trial protocols from database inception to February 10, 2023. English (PubMed, Embase, AMED and CINAHL) and Chinese databases (CNKI, Wanfang Data and CQVIP) were then searched to identify relevant publications from December 2019 through April 6, 2023. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Registered RCTs that compared the effects of Chinese herbal medicines or Chinese herbal formulas against a control treatment (i.e., the placebo or usual care) in adults with persistent symptoms of long COVID. The primary outcome of dyspnea, and secondary outcomes of fatigue, exercise intolerance, depression, anxiety and insomnia were measured using validated tools at the end of the treatment. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted, and eligible RCTs were evaluated using version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations independently by two researchers. Effect sizes were estimated by random-effects modelling and mean difference (MD). Heterogeneity between trials was quantified by I². RESULTS: Among the 38 registered clinical trials we identified, seven RCTs (1,519 patients) were included in the systematic review. One RCT had a low overall risk of bias. Compared to the control, CHM reduces dyspnea on the Borg Dyspnea Scale score (MD = -0.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.65 to 0.25) with moderate certainty, and reduces fatigue on the Borg Scale (MD = -0.48, 95% CI = -0.74 to -0.22) with low certainty. CHM clinically reduces depression on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score (MD = -6.00, 95% CI = -7.56 to -4.44) and anxiety on Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale score (MD = -6.10, 95% CI = -7.67 to -4.53), and reduces insomnia on the Insomnia Severity Index (MD = -4.86, 95% CI = -12.50 to 2.79) with moderate certainty. Meta-analysis of two RCTs (517 patients) showed that CHM clinically improves exercise intolerance by increasing 6-minute walking distance (MD = -15.92, 95% CI = -10.20 to 42.05) with substantial heterogeneity (I² = 68%) and low certainty. CONCLUSION CHM is associated with a post-treatment clinical reduction in depression and anxiety in long COVID adults, compared to the control, but it does not have a strong treatment effect on dyspnea and insomnia. Effects of CHM on exercise intolerance and fatigue are uncertain, and the safety of using CHM remains questionable. Please cite this article as: Tsang MS, Zhou IW, Zhang AL, Xue CC. Chinese herbal medicine for dyspnea and persistent symptoms of long COVID: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(2): 126-137.
Humans ; Dyspnea/etiology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; COVID-19/complications* ; Fatigue/drug therapy* ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Anxiety/drug therapy* ; Depression/drug therapy* ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/drug therapy* ; Betacoronavirus

This article researches how to allocate medical protective consumables in hospital and ensure the safety of emergency marketing procurement under the condition that people are easily susceptible to COVID-19. To inform medical staffs about the standard instruction, we establish the corresponding hierarchical control management system and standards of medical protective consumables. To reduce the stress of clinical medical staff and prevent excessive protection, we enhance the training mechanisms and promote the superior normative guidance. The aim is to fully play the effectiveness of the key departments of medical protective consumables, reduce the risk of infection of clinical medical staff and ensure the safety of medical staffs.
Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; Coronavirus Infections ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; SARS-CoV-2

OBJECTIVE: To explore the preventing infection measures of new coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) patients during mechanical ventilation, and to provide reference for the safe application of mechanical ventilation. METHODS: Retrieved from PubMed, Ovid and other databases, and combined with the application experience of mechanical ventilation were collected to explore the preventing infection measures of COVID-19 patients during mechanical ventilation. RESULTS: This paper put forward the preventing infection measures of external circuit, internal circuit, outer surface, filter and special parts in ventilator. The preventing infection measures of sputum suction and nebulization were summarized. CONCLUSIONS The preventing infection measures of COVID-19 patients during mechanical ventilation are successfully completed, which can provide suggestions for the application and maintenance of mechanical ventilation.
Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; Coronavirus Infections/therapy* ; Humans ; Infection Control/methods* ; Pandemics/prevention & control* ; Pneumonia, Viral/therapy* ; Respiration, Artificial ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Ventilators, Mechanical

OBJECTIVES: To explore the influential factors and titer trend of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) specific IgG antibody in convalescent patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and to provide theoretical basis for the feasibility of clinical treatment of convalescent plasma. METHODS: Colloidal gold immunochromatography assay was used to detect the SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG antibody and its titer in 113 convalescent patients with COVID-19 who were followed up from February 19, 2020 to April 6, 2020. The basic characteristics and treatment factors of patients in the high titer group (antibody titer≥1꞉160, RESULTS: The difference in the clinical type of COVID-19, onset time, first admission C-reactive protein, absolute value of lymphocyte, absolute value of CD19 CONCLUSIONS Male COVID-19 patients might be more likely to produce high titer SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG antibodies than female. The peak level of SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG antibody in convalescent patients is maintained for a short period. Using plasma from convalescent COVID-19 patients for treatment should be within 28 d after discharge.
Antibodies, Viral ; Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19/therapy* ; Female ; Humans ; Immunization, Passive ; Immunoglobulin G ; Male ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology* ; SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now a major public health problem worldwide. Infectivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is extremely strong. The one major target of the virus is the lung, which leads to the deaths of respiratory distress syndrome and multiple organ failure. The kidney is also one of the main organs attacked by viruses, which directly damage the renal tubules through angiotensin converting enzyme-2 and cause cytokine storm, resulting in kidney damage and increasing the risk of death in the patients. Early investigation of risk factors for kidney injury, detection of kidney injury indicators, timely supporting treatment and renal replacement therapy for the existence of kidney injury patients are useful for reducing the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients.
Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology* ; Humans ; Kidney ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology* ; SARS-CoV-2

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a major outbreak in the world. SARS-CoV-2 infection can not only involve in the respiratory system, but also cause severe nervous system damage. Studies have shown that SRAS-CoV-2 can invade the nervous system through hematogenous and transneuronal pathways, and may cause nervous system damage in patients with COVID-19 by inhibiting cellular immunity, hypoxemia, inflammation, inducing neuronal degeneration and apoptosis, and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) mechanism. It can lead to intracranial infection, toxic encephalopathy, acute cerebrovascular disease, muscle damage, peripheral nervous system injury, acute myelitis, demyelination disease or other nervous system diseases.
Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology* ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology* ; Research ; SARS-CoV-2

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mental health status and its influencing factors among general population and healthcare professionals in Guangdong Province during COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A online questionnaire-based survey was conducted from March 11st to March 15th, 2020.The questionnaire consisted of 4 parts to survey the participants'basic information, understanding of COVID-19 outbreak-associated information, cognition of COVID-19 pandemic and status of anxiety and depression.A total of 1433 valid responses were collected, including 706 from the general population and 727 from healthcare professionals.Cronbach's α coefficient and exploratory factor analysis were used for reliability and validity assessment.Chi-square, Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for univariate analysis and ordinal or nominal logistic regression was used for multivariate analysis of the data. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the general population and the healthcare professionals in terms of anxiety, depression and cognition of COVID-19 outbreak after adjustment for demographic variables, but the levels of anxiety and depression of these participants were both higher than those before the pandemic.In the participants from the general population, multivariate logistic regressions showed an OR for anxiety of 1.93(1.18, 3.17) among those who spent 1-2 h a day in reading COVID-19-related news, while those who spent over 3 h had an OR value for anxiety of 1.88(1.14, 3.11);the unmarried individuals had a depression OR of 2.19(1.51, 3.18). Inaccurate cognition of COVID-19 outbreak was positive correlated with the occurrence of anxiety and depression.Unmarried individuals and those with higher educational levels had better cognition of COVID-19 outbreak.Among the healthcare professionals, multivariate logistic regressions suggested that insufficient rest time and worries about contracting the virus contributed to the occurrence of anxiety and depression.Among the nursing staff, the OR of obvious depression was 2.99(1.45, 6.18).Compared to healthcare professionals not working in designated hospital for COVID-19, those who work in the designated hospitals had ORs for obvious and severe depression of 0.48(0.25, 0.93) and 0.39(0.17, 0.89), respectively.Concerns over contracting the virus increased the possibility of incorrect cognition of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS Psychological interventions are essential for both the general population and healthcare professionals, especially for unmarried individuals in the general population and the nursing staff.An excessive exposure to COVID-19-related information may have detrimental effects on the mental health.For healthcare professionals, sufficient rest needs to be ensured, and education programs on COVID-19 should be implemented among both residents and healthcare professionals to improve their mental health.
Anxiety/epidemiology* ; Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; China/epidemiology* ; Coronavirus Infections ; Health Status ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; Reproducibility of Results ; SARS-CoV-2

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical manifestations of heart, liver and kidney damages in the early stage of COVID-19 to identify the indicators for these damages. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical features, underlying diseases, and indicators of infection in 12 patients with COVID-19 on the second day after their admission to our hospital between January 20 and February 20, 2020.The data including CK-MB, aTnI, BNP, heart rate, changes in ECG, LVEF (%), left ventricular general longitudinal strain (GLS, measured by color Doppler ultrasound) were collected.The changes of liver function biochemical indicators were dynamically reviewed.BUN, UCR, eGFR, Ccr, and UACR and the levels of MA, A1M, IGU, and TRU were recorded. RESULTS: The 12 patients included 2 severe cases, 8 common type cases, and 2 mild cases.Four of the patients presented with sinus tachycardia, ECG changes and abnormal GLS in spite of normal aTNI and LVEF; 1 patient had abnormal CKMB and BNP.On the first and third days following admission, the patients had normal ALT, AST and GGT levels.On day 7, hepatic function damage occurred in the severe cases, manifested by elevated ALT and AST levels.Abnormalities of eGFR, Ccr and UACR occurred in 8, 5 and 5 of the patients, respectively.Abnormal elevations of MA, A1M, IGU and TRU in urine protein were observed in 4, 4, 5, and 2 of the patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS In patients with COVID-19, heart damage can be identified early by observing the GLS and new abnormalities on ECG in spite of normal aTNI and LVEF.Early liver injury is not obvious in these patients, but dynamic monitoring of the indicators of should be emplemented, especially in severe cases. In cases with normal CR and BUN, kidney damage can be detected early by calculating eGFR, Ccr and UACR and urine protein tests.
Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; Coronavirus Infections ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; SARS-CoV-2

On May 15, 2020, the Lancet published an article titled Use of Herbal Drugs to Treat COVID-19 Should be with Caution. While this is true of all drugs, herbal and otherwise, the data may be biased and deserve a scientific response. We believe these types of reports will unfairly and negatively impact the field of integrative medicine as a whole, and must be answered with facts and statistics that more accurately represent the current situation.
Betacoronavirus ; Bias ; COVID-19 ; Coronavirus ; Coronavirus Infections/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; SARS-CoV-2

BACKGROUND: In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, people need to practice social distancing in order to protect themselves from SARS-CoV-2 infection. In such stressful situations, remote cardiac rehabilitation (CR) might be a viable alternative to the outpatient CR program. METHODS: We prospectively investigated patients hospitalized for heart failure (HF) with a left ventricular ejection fraction of < 50%. As for patients who participated in the remote CR program, telephone support was provided by cardiologists and nurses who specialized in HF every 2 weeks after discharge. The emergency readmission rate within 30 days of discharge was compared among the outpatient CR, remote CR, and non-CR groups, and the EQ-5D score was compared between the outpatient CR and remote CR groups. RESULTS: The participation rate of HF patients in our remote CR program elevated during the COVID-19 pandemic. As observed in the outpatient CR group (n = 69), the emergency readmission rate within 30 days of discharge was lower in the remote CR group (n = 30) than in the non-CR group (n = 137) (P = 0.02). The EQ-5D score was higher in the remote CR group than in the outpatient CR group (P = 0.03) 30 days after discharge. CONCLUSIONS Remote CR is as effective as outpatient CR for improving the short-term prognosis of patients hospitalized for heart failure post-discharge. This suggests that the remote CR program can be provided as a good alternative to the outpatient CR program.
Aged ; Betacoronavirus ; Cardiac Rehabilitation ; methods ; Coronavirus Infections ; epidemiology ; Heart Failure ; rehabilitation ; Humans ; Japan ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Ambulatory ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; epidemiology ; Prospective Studies ; Self Care ; Telemedicine ; methods ; Telephone