title: Chinese herbal medicines for the treatment of type A H1N1 influenza: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chinese herbs are thought to be effective for type A H1N1 influenza. Series of Chinese herbs have been authorized recommended by the Chinese government, and until now a number of clinical trials of Chinese herbs for H1N1 influenza have been conducted. However, there is no critically appraised evidence such as systematic reviews or meta-analyses on potential benefits and harms of medicinal herbs for H1N1 influenza to justify their clinical use and their recommendation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CBM, CNKI, VIP, China Important Conference Papers Database, China Dissertation Database, and online clinical trial registry websites were searched for published and unpublished randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Chinese herbs for H1N1 influenza till 31 August, 2011. A total of 26 RCTs were identified and reviewed. Most of the RCTs were of high risk of bias with flawed study design and poor methodological quality. The combination of several Chinese herbal medicines with or without oseltamivir demonstrated positive effect on fever resolution, relief of symptoms, and global effectiveness rate compared to oseltamivir alone. However, only one herbal medicine showed positive effect on viral shedding. Most of the trials did not report adverse events, and the safety of herbal medicines is still uncertain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Some Chinese herbal medicines demonstrated potential positive effect for 2009 type A H1N1 influenza; however, due to the lack of placebo controlled trial and lack of repeated test of the intervention, we could not draw confirmative conclusions on the beneficial effect of Chinese herbs for H1N1 influenza. More rigorous trials are warranted to support their clinical use.
authors.affiliation: Centre For Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chi Eung Danforn
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Hong-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000378:metabolism; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000188:drug therapy*; D053139:Oseltamivir / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D012306:Risk; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D017201:Virus Shedding
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D053139:Oseltamivir