A real-world study of the differences in Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis and treatment rules for coronavirus disease 2019 between Northern and Southern China.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the differences in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis and treatment rules for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) between Northern and Southern China based on the real-world data from 982 COVID-19 patients. METHODS: All consecutive cases of COVID-19 admitted to the TCM department of designated COVID-19 hospitals in eight provinces and cities were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into a Northern and a Southern group according to the location of the admitting hospital. The symptoms, syndrome elements, syndrome distribution and herbal treatments were analyzed. The core prescriptions were extracted using the multiscale backbone-based network comparison algorithm (msbNC). RESULTS: The distribution of syndrome elements showed that dampness was common in Northern and Southern China, wind and heat were more often present in the South, while fire toxin and spleen deficiency were more often encountered in the North. The distribution of syndromes showed that the South was dominated by heat dampness accumulating in the lung (55.69%), while the North was dominated by dampness-toxin stagnating in the lung (44.90%).The results of core prescription mining showed that dispelling dampness, dispersing wind, clearing heat and strengthening spleen were the common treatment methods in Northern and Southern China. For mild cases, Jinyinhua (Flos Lonicerae) and Lianqiao (Fructus Forsythiae Suspensae) were often used in the South to clear heat and relieve exterior symptoms, while Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri Chinensis) and Huangqin (Radix Scutellariae Baicalensis) were often used in the North to relieve muscles by expelling heat. For moderate cases, Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri Chinensis), Qinghao (Herba Artemisiae Annuae), and Shigao (Gypsum Fibrosum) were often used to clear heat of Tri-jiao Channel and stomach in the South, while Fuling (Poria), Chenpi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae), and Dangshen (Radix Codonopsis) were often used to invigorate spleen and remove dampness in the North. For severe cases, spleen invigoration and dampness removal as well as relaxing the bowels and discharging heat were often used in the North. CONCLUSION: There were certain North-South differences in terms of symptoms, syndrome elements and syndrome distribution of COVID-19, as well as differences in core prescriptions during different periods of the disease. The regional differences in the rules of TCM diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19 should be further considered in the process of optimization and revision of relevant treatment guidance.

Mercury exposure and malaria prevalence among gold miners in Pará, Brazil

Economic development, including resource extraction, can cause toxic exposures that interact with endemic infectious diseases. Mercury is an immunotoxic metal used in the amalgamation of gold, resulting in both occupational exposures and environmental pollution. A cross-sectional medical survey was conducted in 1997 on 135 garimpeiros in Para, Brazil, because of their risks of both mercury exposure and malaria transmission. Mean levels of blood and urine mercury were well above non-exposed background levels. Twenty-six subjects had malaria parasitemia: Health symptoms consistent with mercury exposure were reported, but neither symptoms nor signs correlated with mercury levels in blood or urine. We did not find a dose response relationship between mercury exposure and likelihood of prevalent malaria infection, but there was a possible reduction in acquisition of immunity that may be associated with conditions in gold mining, including mercury exposure