Top Chinese academicians become warriors in battle against novel coronavirus (5)

Tong Xiaolin

“We must take the initiative in epidemic prevention and control.”

On Jan. 23, right before setting off for his holiday, Tong Xiaolin, chief physician with the Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, learnt that he had just been appointed as joint head of the medical group against the novel coronavirus under the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The next evening, which was Chinese New Year’s Eve, Tong arrived in Wuhan. On Jan. 25, Tong and other TCM experts started to examine pneumonia inpatients at the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital in a bid to determine the nature of the epidemic.

“Considering the symptoms of the patients and Wuhan’s natural environment, we believe that the disease was caused by coldness and humidity,” said Tong. He explained that this coldness and humidity mainly attacked the lungs and spleens of the human body, generating symptoms in patients such as fever, cough, body aches and lack of strength and appetite.

During his investigations, Tong began to formulate the TCM therapy for the novel coronavirus with other experts and soon introduced the first version of the diagnosis and treatment plan, which mainly centered around the treatment experience gained in Hubei province.

Later, in the third edition of the therapy, Tong and other TCM experts also took in the experience of other provinces, such as Guangdong and Zhejiang. “The same kind of virus may mutate according to different climates and phenological phenomena in different regions,” Tong noted.

Tong and other experts have continued to optimize the therapy based on the treatment of the disease around the country. For example, a formula that can cleanse the lungs and remove harmful substances from the human body has proven effective in preventing patients suffering a mild form of the disease from deteriorating and has also been included into the therapy.

Tong also pointed out that preventing and controlling the epidemic at the community level is fundamental to containing the epidemic. He has led a special team into communities severely stricken by the epidemic to promote TCM knowledge on preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus and distribute traditional medicine to people.