Public opinion may not know exactly what to think: after all, can Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formula Lianhua Qingwen help to prevent and fight the pandemic? “Its main benefits are to clear heat, detoxify, and remove lung heat,” said the Health Bureau
Macau Business | January 2023 | Special Report | Three years of pandemic – What changed?
Lianhua Qingwen – have you heard about it?
If the reader is in Macau, Hong Kong or China and has been infected with COVID-19, there are some odds that this remedy, composed up of 13 ingredients like honeysuckle and apricot seeds, to prevent or to treat the effects of the pandemic, has been given to you. During the notorious outbreak in Shanghai last year, it was widely distributed to residents of the city, for example.
In the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for COVID-19 (Trial Version 9) published by Chinese government in March 2022, “Lianhua Qingwen Capsules are recommended for prevention and control of the population under medical observation and mild and general patients during clinical treatment. Lianhua Qingwen Capsules have been recommended for treatment of COVID-19 for six times in the national protocol since the outbreak of COVID-19,” according to a report from Biospace.
But in April a lot changed.
“Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical, Chinese producer of drugs and supplier of the Chinese herbal medicine Lianhua Qingwen is suffering a heavy blow after an influential health platform said that the famous medicine cannot prevent people from infection with COVID-19, contrary to what many people believed,” wrote Global Times, a newspaper under the official People’s Daily group.
“Health platform Dingxiang Yisheng published an article saying Lianhua Qingwen, which has been widely used to treat COVID-19 patients in China and is currently being distributed to Shanghai residents, cannot prevent infections and advised the public not to take it as a preventive medicine,” added the media outlet. “The medicine could cause side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and rash.”
The publication of that article and the projection it deserved, both through the Chinese press and social networks, caused serious impacts on the reputation of the drug and on the producing company, which saw its share price drop by 6.7 billion yuan ($1.05 billion) in one day. An announcement last November of revised COVID rules allowed the share price to recover.
In Macau, the Health Bureau, which distributed the medication to patients infected with the virus, was seemingly caught off guard, by these reports, as was the case with most health organizations.
“[Lianhua Qingwen] main benefits are to clear heat and detoxify, and remove lung hotness” – Macau Health Bureau
It is true that the World Health Organization never recommended the remedy as a treatment for COVID-19 and the US Food and Drug Administration never approved Lianhua Qingwen, stating that coronavirus-related claims about it were “not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.” Singapore’s health authorities warned last year that there is “no scientific evidence” showing that Lianhua Qingwen can treat or alleviate COVID symptoms, and Australia has even banned Lianhua Qingwen.
However, the drug had already been approved for COVID-19 indications in countries such as Kuwait, Mongolia, Thailand, and Cambodia, and many more had been granted registration approvals or entrance licences prior to that point. A clinical trial had been approved in Singapore “to study the use of traditional Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingwen in treating adults with mild COVID-19.”
The last chapter of this strange story took place still in April, when it was reported by the press that “the Chinese government has halted the recommendation this herbal supplement.” But there has never been any official confirmation that Chinese health authorities pulled their previous recommendation, and the fact is that, as of the present date, there has been no further update on the Chinese “Diagnosis and treatment protocol for COVID‐19 patients (Trial Version 9).”
From there, it was silence, and the only news was that the health platform Dingxiang Yisheng came to announce that it had been censored by authorities. Due to “violation of relevant laws and regulations, this user is currently prohibited from posting” and the article deleted from its website.
According to information given to Macau Business by the Health Bureau (SSM), the medicine was still given to patients in Macau who were willing to be treated with TCM.
During the “618 epidemic” in Macau last year, “the Chinese Medicine Anti-epidemic Team operated a hotline from July 1 to August 23, providing telephone assessment for COVID-19 patients who were staying in the isolation hotel and were willing to receive TCM treatment as to whether they were suitable for TCM treatment,” de SSM added.
“If suitable, the Team would determine which Chinese patent medicine (Lianhua Qingwen capsule, Huoxiang Zhengqi soft capsule/oral solution) to use according to their clinical symptoms and body constitutions, and give them instructions on dosage, administration, and precautions,” still according to SSM.
Data provided to Macau Business by SSM shows that more than 1,300 patients have been treated with Chinese medicine; “most of them used Lianhua Qingwen capsules and reflected that the symptoms of dry mouth, sore throat, and cough were significantly relieved after the use of Chinese patent medicines. In the future, Chinese medicine will continue to be adopted as appropriate based on the national and local diagnosis and treatment protocols, as well as the symptoms and body constitution of the COVID-19 patients.”
[In October, during the CHEXPO Macau 2022, Yiling Pharmaceutical highlighted Lianhua Qingwen Capsules, “a top brand for treating respiratory communicable diseases, [that] has been listed 30 times in the treatment protocols or experts’ consensuses on the prevention and control of Influenza A, Influenza B, Avian Influenza and Covid-19 by the Chinese government due to its great efficacy. Due to its great efficacy, Lianhua Qingwen is not only widely used in China, but also widely applied in fighting against Covid-19 in other countries. Up till now, Lianhua Qingwen has been approved for market access in nearly 30 countries in the world, making it the most widely registered TCM overseas.”]
The science
In the last two years, several scientific studies have been published, with the participation of Chinese scientists, on the benefits of Lianhua Qingwen.
One of them (Efficacy and safety of Lianhua Qingwen capsules, a repurposed Chinese herb, in patients with coronavirus disease 2019: A multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial) concluded that “LH capsules could be considered to ameliorate clinical symptoms of COVID-19.”
Another study (Efficacy and Safety of Lianhua Qingwen Capsules for the Prevention of Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Prospective Open-Label Controlled Trial) stated that “in light of the safety and effectiveness profiles, these results show that LH capsules can be considered to prevent the progression of COVID-19 after close contact with an infected person.”
An a third one (Efficacy and Safety of Lianhua Qingwen for Patients with COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) concluded that “LHQW was more suitable for treating COVID-19 patients with obvious expectoration, shortness of breath, and muscle soreness. LHQW had advantages in treating COVID-19 with no obvious exacerbation.”
