Baptist Uni drafts 5,000 close contacts for tcm research

Hong Kong Baptist University is recruiting 5,000 close contacts of Covid patients to study how traditional Chinese medicine may be able to prevent or treat the infections.

Its School of Chinese Medicine yesterday said that in light of the increasing number of infections in the fifth wave, it aims to evaluate the efficacy of a TCM formula in either preventing Covid or treating its symptoms.

Researchers are recruiting 5,000 close contacts who live in the same household as confirmed Covid patients and who are currently under home quarantine.

At the start of the study, a clinical assessment of participants and their symptoms will be conducted. After that, participants will receive free Chinese medicine for a week. Finally, three weeks after the start of the study, there will be follow-up appointments.

The university noted that those looking to join the study should be adults aged 18 or above with no Covid symptoms - such as coughs, fevers and fatigue - and have no history of allergy to Chinese medicine. Applicants' infected household members should have tested positive in the four days leading up the day of registration.

Further, applicants should not have acute or serious medical conditions and should not be pregnant or breastfeeding, it said, adding that applicants have to understand both verbal and written Chinese.

The recruitment process began yesterday and researchers will contact eligible applicants through WhatsApp video calls, the university said, adding: "Given the recent critical nature of the pandemic, the Hong Kong government has introduced the StayHomeSafe scheme under which close contacts living with Covid patients will undergo home quarantine." It noted: "As such, preventing close contacts from contracting Covid and providing them with early treatment for possible symptoms has become a key issue in infection control."

The move came as Lingnan University launched an online channel for the elderly, featuring videos that teach them how to cope with the pandemic. Some videos revolve around exercise advice while others discuss Chinese medicine.

The university's president, Leonard Cheng Kwok-hon, said that many elderly people felt helpless during the fifth wave and the videos could help them keep themselves healthy in mind and body.

Last month, the University of Hong Kong's medical school recruited 10,000 participants to join a real-time surveillance program to monitor Covid transmission in the SAR.

Participants were required to undergo regular Covid and antibody tests for 12 weeks so that researchers can estimate how quickly the virus spreads through the community and the proportion of people with Covid antibodies among the local population.