Role of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Management of Viral Pneumonia

Viral pneumonia is one kind of acute respiratory tract infection caused by the virus. There have been many outbreaks of viral pneumonia with high contagiousness and mortality both in China and abroad, such as the great influenza in 1918, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus in 2003, the Influenza A (H1N1) virus in 2009, and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 and the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019. These outbreaks and/or pandemic have significant impact on human life, social behaviors, and economic development. Moreover, no specific drug has been developed for these viruses. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays an important role in the treatment of viral pneumonia during these outbreaks especially in SARS and SARS-CoV-2 because studies suggest that TCM formulations may target several aspects of the disease and may have lesser side effects than manufactured pharmaceuticals. In recent years, a lot of clinicians and researchers have made a series of in-depth explorations and investigations on the treatment of viral pneumonia with TCM, which have understood TCM therapeutic mechanisms more specifically and clearly. But critical analysis of this research in addition to further studies are needed to assess the potential of TCM in the treatment of viral pneumonia.