Xuanfei Baidu decoction, a Chinese herbal medicine for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a randomized clinical trial

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Xuanfei Baidu decoction for treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: Patients with COVID-19 were enrolled, and eligible patients were randomly allocated to three groups: group A (Xuanfei Baidu decoction combined with conventional treatment), group B (Ganlu Xiaodu decoction combined with conventional treatment), and group C (conventional treatment only). The duration of treatment was 14 days. The primary outcomes were the duration of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid testing from positive to negative and hospitalization days. The secondary outcome was the rate of symptom resolution. The safety outcome was drug-related adverse events. Results: In total, 103 patients with ordinary-type COVID-19 were included and randomly allocated to groups A (34 cases), B (35 cases), and C (34 cases). Duration for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing from positive to negative was shortest in group A [(9.88 +/- 3.62) days], followed by groups C [(11.20 +/- 2.93) days] and B [(12.69 +/- 4.11) days]; differences between the three groups were statistically significant (P = 0.010). The number of hospitalization days was the least in group A [(14.00 +/- 6.55) days], followed by groups B [(15.40 +/- 4.02) days] and C [(16.38 +/- 5.73) days], and differences between groups were statistically significant (P = 0.019). There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of symptom resolution between groups (P > 0.05). No deaths or serious adverse events occurred in either of the groups. Conclusion: Considering the treatment of ordinary-type COVID-19, Xuanfei Baidu decoction can shorten the duration from a positive to negative SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test, as well as the duration of hospitalization. Moreover, there were no Xuanfei Baidu decoction-induced adverse reactions.