While the H1N1 pandemic has proven to be much less impactful than initially predicted, it’s good to know progress has been made with treatment options.
After seven months of research and clinical studies, an herbal remedy, Jin Hua Qing Gan Fang effectively treated people infected with H1N1, according to Wang Chen, president of Beijing’s Chaoyang Hospital.
Doctors found it had no negative effect and it shortened the length of fever, while also improving their respiratory systems.
It is also much less expensive than current drugs, only 25 per cent of the cost of Tamiflu, the recommended drug for the treatment of H1N1 flu.
The basic scientific studies were conducted for 5 months across China at several universities. The results demonstrated the herbal treatment’s effectiveness in animal studies.
Zhao Jing, director of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said at the press conference, “Medical experts proved the effectiveness of Jin Hua in treating A/H1N1 flu from both the basic scientific studies and clinical studies,” she said.
Over the past seven months, more than 120 medical specialists, participated in the research, she said.
Thursday’s Beijing Daily hailed the new herbal medication as the “world’s first traditional Chinese medicine to treat the A/H1N1 flu”.
Citing medical officials, the paper said “Jin Hua” was picked from among more than 100 classic anti-flu prescriptions based on traditional Chinese herbal medicine.
“Science workers proved its effectiveness through medical experiments on more than 4,000 mice and clinical studies on 410 patients with slight A/H1N1 flu syndrome,” it said.
The “Jin Hua” prescription had been adopted in many local traditional Chinese medicine hospitals, it said.
Clinical studies were conducted in 11 hospitals nationwide, including Chaoyang Hospital and Ditan Hospital in Beijing, had conducted clinical studies on “Jin Hua” and gave positive assessments.
“We are applying for patents for ‘Jin Hua’ both at home and abroad,” she said.
“We are further developing the medicine and trying to present it to the whole country and world as soon as possible, thus offering an alternative to treat the A/H1N1 flu,” she said.
The Chinese mainland has reported almost 108,000 A/H1N1 flu cases, including 442 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.
Dr. Cris Tunon, senior program management officer at the WHO Representative Office in China, said Thursday the “WHO welcomes the clinical results,” as the traditional Chinese medicine offered a low-cost treatment of A/H1N1 flu.
Source: China Daily News