A pharmacist fulfills a Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM) prescription at Gansu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 23, 2021. (Xinhua)

China will study traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy to treat patients with the Omicron strain, experts with the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine said on Thursday. 

Practitioner said TCM could play a bigger role in COVID-19 treatment if patients with the Omicron strain showed mild symptoms or none, as studies showed, as TCM has proven effective in treating COVID-19 patients through reducing their symptoms and adjusting their immune systems.

The application of TCM on Omicron-infected patients will be studied, and a treatment plan using TCM to target the Omicron strain will soon be released, Zhang Zhongde, vice-president of the Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, also deputy head for the COVID-19 response group led by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said at a press conference on Thursday.

When there are patients with the Omicron strain, experts will collect clinical evidence of these patients and study the core etiology. After identifying a pattern of syndromes involving patients with the Omicron strain, a new treatment therapy will be announced, Zhang Zhongde said.

Cui Yongqiang, a professor at Guang'anmen Hospital Affiliated with the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that given the experience of treating patients with the Delta strain, TCM therapy could be adjusted to improve the immunity of patients with Omicron, in accordance with the patients' symptoms. 

Zhang Boli, a member of the experts group of the central leading group on responding to the novel coronavirus disease outbreak, also headmaster at the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said in March that no matter how the virus mutates, the effectiveness of TCM won't be affected. 

The principle of TCM treatment is not aimed at the virus itself. Instead, it works to improve the human immune system, so that the strong resistance and immunity of the patient can defeat the virus, Zhang Boli explained.

If patients with the Omicron strain were to show mild or no symptoms, as some studies have shown, TCM could play a more important role in COVID-19 treatment, given its strong ability to improve symptoms and adjust the immune system, Cui noted. 

The major symptoms of patients who contract the Delta strain are fever, headache, chills, dry throat, fatigue, abdominal distension, and loss of appetite. In severe cases, patients show symptoms such as asthma, hypoxia and sweating.

The core etiology and pathogenesis of the current round of outbreaks in the country, characterized by Delta strain, are still within the scope of TCM. Only the syndrome characteristics involved with humidity and heat are different, due to differences in geography, climate and eating habits, Zhang Zhongde said.

During the outbreak in Guangzhou in May and June, among 166 local cases who were admitted to hospitals, 118 were given purely TCM therapy, accounting for 71 percent of the total. The TCM helped 57 patients who were vulnerable to severe illness from experiencing such severe symptoms, according to Zhang Zhongde.

Since the epidemic, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine has held more than 110 online events introducing TCM as a method of treating COVID-19, viewed in more than 150 countries and regions. TCM products were sent to over 10 countries and regions in need, and TCM experts went to some 28 countries and regions to guide local epidemic work.