Introduction
The new coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19), which has the characteristics of extremely contagious, long incubation period, diverse clinical manifestations, and a wide range of susceptible people [1]. If treatment is not timely, it is easy to cause death. This disease belongs to the category of "warm disease" in traditional Chinese medicine, which is highly contagious and epidemic, and can also belong to "warm disease" [2]. In the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, China has always adhered to the treatment principle of "emphasis on both Chinese and Western medicine", and the traditional Chinese medicine lotus clearing has played an important role in the fight against the epidemic [3]. Studies have shown that Lianhua Qingwen granules have a good effect on respiratory diseases induced by various influenza viruses, and its mechanism of action includes strengthening the body's immunity, inhibiting inflammation of the respiratory tract, and reducing inflammation damage in the lungs [4].
Up to now, there is no special drug for the treatment of new coronary pneumonia. At the same time, the cumulative number of diagnoses worldwide has reached 3 million, and the number of deaths has reached more than 200,000, which has already imposed a heavy burden on the global economy and people's lives. Countries have also carried out clinical trials and vaccine research and development, with a view to finding therapeutic drugs as soon as possible. In our country, Chinese medicine has very successful experience in preventing and treating epidemic diseases. Its Lianhua Qingwen is made from the ancient prescription Yin Qiao San and Ma Xing Shi Gan Decoction. Its main components are: Forsythia, Honeysuckle, Ephedra (Branch), Bitter Almond (Fried), Gypsum, Banlangen, Mianma It consists of 13 herbs such as Guanzhong, Houttuynia cordata, patchouli, rhubarb, Rhodiola rosea, menthol, and licorice [5]. Common formulations of this formula are capsules, granules, and decoctions. Through the bibliometrics study of modern literature and the analysis of the names of the diseases treated by Lianhua Qingwen, it is found that the traditional Chinese medicine diseases with pulmonary fever are the most frequent.
In order to scientifically evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of the traditional Chinese medicine lotus clearing plague in the treatment of new coronavirus pneumonia, we comprehensively reviewed the medical literature and conducted a meta-analysis of the randomized controlled trials of the traditional Chinese medicine Lianhua clearing plague in the treatment of new coronavirus pneumonia.
Methods
Search strategy
Three English electronic databases and four Chinese electronic databases were searched: PubMed, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biomedicine (SinoMed), China Science Journal Database (VIP) and Wanfang Database. Conference records and papers were also retrieved from CNKI and Wanfang databases for unpublished trials. Depending on the search database, the following search terms (or Chinese database equivalent to Chinese) are used: "Lianhua Qingwen Capsule", "Lianhua Qingwen Capsule", "Lianhua Qingwen Granule", "New Coronavirus Pneumonia", "COVID-19", "NCP", "New Coronary Pneumonia", "Coronavirus", "corona virus disease 2019" and "Random".