ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the laws of core symptom and traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) prescription in treatment of the Yin deficiency syndrome of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), in order to provide the objective basis for the treatment of SLE with TCM based on complex network. Method: Complex network analysis method was used to retrospectively study 322 TCM prescriptions collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine between January 2011 and May 2017 and 134 literatures about treatment of SLE with TCM through computer retrieval. The topological property parameters of the complex network were calculated, and used to analyze the structure of the core network and the compatibility rule of symptom and TCM. Then the core syndrome, herbs, compatibility rules and characteristics of commonly used prescriptions for SLE were analyzed. Result: The results of analysis of complex network showed that the core TCM herbs for Yin deficiency syndrome of SLE mainly included Rehmanniae Radix, Moutan Cortex, Paeoniae Radix Rubra, Anemarrhenae Rhizoma, Scutellariae Radix, Artemisiae Annuae Herba, Cornt Fructus, Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix, Trionycis Carapax, Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, Paeoniae Radix Alba, Poria, Alismatis Rhizoma, Coicis Semen, Dioscoreae Rhizoma, Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Pinelliae Rhizoma.Core prescriptions included Qinghao Biejia Tang and Liuwei Dihuang Wan. Core syndromes included fatigue, poor sleep, anorexia, low fever, five upset heat, night sweats, dizziness, rash, skin erythema, facial red butterfly erythema, dark red rash, alopecia, weak waist and knees, joint pain, muscle pain, tinnitus, thirst, sore throat, red tongue, tongue with less fur, and thready and rapid pulse. Compared with the diagnostic criteria of the syndrome, the core symptoms included some new common clinical symptoms, such as poor sleep, anorexia, facial red butterfly erythema, dark red rash. Conclusion: The main pathogenesis of SLE is Yin deficiency and blood heat, so the treatment should be nourishing Yin and generating body fluid, removing pathogenic heat from blood and clearing deficient heat. In this study, the results of clinical retrospective review and computer retrieval by the complex network analysis method were basically consistent with the clinical application. It can be used as a reference for the clinical syndrome differentiation and treatment of Yin deficiency syndrome of SLE.
ABSTRACT
In 2012, Vanuatu designed and implemented a syndromic surveillance system based on the guidelines developed by the Pacific Community and the World Health Organization to provide early warning of outbreaks and other important public health events. Four core syndromes were endorsed for surveillance: acute fever and rash, prolonged fever, influenza-like illness and acute watery diarrhoea. In March 2015, Vanuatu was struck by Cyclone Pam, after which several important changes and improvements to the country's syndromic surveillance were made. To date, there has been no formal evaluation of whether regular reports are occurring or that core syndromes are being documented. We therefore carried out a descriptive study in the 11 sentinel sites in Vanuatu conducting syndromic surveillance between July and December 2015. There was a total of 53 822 consultations which were higher in the first 13 weeks (n = 29 622) compared with the last 13 weeks (n = 24 200). During the six months, there were no cases of acute fever and rash or prolonged fever. There were cases with influenza-like illness from week 27 to 35, but no case was reported after week 35. Acute watery diarrhoea occurred in one or two cases per week during the whole study period. For these two core syndromes, there were generally more females than males, and about one third were children aged under 5 years. In conclusion, Vanuatu implemented changes to its new syndromic surveillance system from July to December 2015, although laboratory components had not yet been incorporated. The laboratory components are working in 2016 and will be the subject of a further report.