A 71-year-old Nanjing resident infected with H7N9 avian flu recovered after medical treatment involving both western medicines and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on Feb 16.
This is the first case cured since the beginning of 2014 in the provincial capital.
Besides some western medicines, doctors used ginseng and Astragalus mongholicus, both TCMs, to treat the infected case to boost the immunity and resistance.
Fang Zhuyuan, head of Nanjing Provincial Hospital of TCM, said TCMs were used throughout the early period of the discovered patient to slow the progression of disease. TCM therapeutics will be gradually used in the treatment of avian flu infections. Jiangsu healthcare authorities reported one more new human cases of H7N9 infection in Huai’an, and two deaths in Wuxi on Feb 16, which brought the total number of human infections in the province to 13, including four deaths.
Poultry sales were hit by the avian flu in Jiangsu after the Spring Festival. Both the sales and prices of live poultry witnessed a drop.
