Investigation and Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndromes with 144 Cases of COVID-19 Patients in Anhui Province / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the general situation and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome characteristics in patients with coronavirus disease-2019（COVID-19） in Anhui province, and to provide a basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Method:The 144 cases of COVID-19 patients in Anhui province were collected from designated hospitals by means of multi-center cross-sectional epidemiological survey. The TCM syndrome information collection table of patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia was created to collect the general data, etiology and pathogenesis, pulse and signs, syndrome type and frequency statistics of the patients, and then summarize and analyze the main symptoms and syndrome distribution characteristics of patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia. Result:The mean age of 144 patients with COVID-19 infection was （43.54±15.91） years old, and the number of males was larger than the number of females (9/7). The age distribution and gender difference of the patients were statistically significant (P<0.05). 36.11%（52/144） of the patients had a history of travel/residence in Wuhan/Hubei province, and 63.89% (92/144) of the patients had a history of close contact with the confirmed patients. The main clinical manifestations included fever, cough, diarrhea, fatigue and poor tolerance. Light red tongue and red tongue were dominant in tongue quality, with mainly greasy coating, slippery pulse, rapid pulse and soft pulse were the main types of pulse. The main types of syndrome differentiation were the common type (76.38%, 110/144), most of which were demonstrated as dampness obstructing the lung and spleen (56.25%, 81/144). There was no significant difference in gender composition and age distribution between two groups. Conclusion:The pathogenesis of COVID-19 patients in Anhui province is closely related to the lung and spleen, and the dampness caused by pathogen of the epidemic virus is the main pathological factor of disease, which is in line with characteristics of dampness epidemic in TCM, also can see concurrently "heat, poison, stasis" for a characteristic.