Treatment Thoughts of COVID-19 Based on Syndrome Differentiation in Traditional Chinese Medcine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has played an unprecedentedly significant role in preventing and treating COVID-19 since it outbroke in Wuhan in late 2019. TCM has been applied to treat epidemic diseases since ancient times， which has accumulated plenty of empirical experiences for thousands of years. It was held that the pathogenesis of COVID-19 was accumulation and constraint of dampness combined with cold or heat， hyperactivity and inconstancy of pathogenic qi， following progressive pattern of wei-qi-ying-blood but sometimes reversed， and usually attacking the lung and spleen， accompanied by heart invaded in the severe cases. The therapeutic methods should be based on syndrome differentiation in stages with dispelling dampness and fortifying spleen throughout the course. When it comes to specific cases， not only should it dispel epidemic and resole toxins to control progression， but also nourish lung and tonify spleen to consolidate healthy qi. In addition， treatment in accordance with three categories of etiologic factors should also be taken into consideration， as well as adhere to the prevention and treatment simultaneously.