Objective

To describe the clinical features and effectiveness of Xuanbai Shengmai Decoction (XB, a compound Chinese herbal medicine) on disease progression, clinical effect and viral RNA shedding in COVID-19 cases.

Methods

We collected demographic and clinical information of 212 COVID-19 cases from December 2022 to January 2023, and divided these cases into two groups based on whether XB was used or not. Survival curves in the two groups were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. A smoothing approximation of time-to-event distributions was created based on a log-rank test and a restricted mean survival time model, and the Gaussian density estimation method. In addition, the effect of XB treatment on survival time was assessed using a series of Cox proportional hazards models.

Results

Of all 212 COVID-19 cases, there were respectively 63 and 149 cases reported in XB group and non-XB group. Of those, 128 (60.4%) were male, with median age of 75.00 years, and 72.6% had one or more underlying medical conditions. The most common symptoms on admission were cough (64.6%), fever (39.6%), wheezing (27.8%) and sputum (13.2%). In addition, the gender, age group distribution, smoking, and drinking between two groups were of no significant difference (P > 0.05). However, the clinical characteristics and CT findings in XB group were more serious than those in non-XB group. Nevertheless, the hazard of death in XB group was lower than that in non-XB group, especially on severe cases. Treatment with XB significantly protected against adverse outcomes, shorten the time of viral RNA shedding. Moreover, interventional therapy of XB within 1-2 days after hospital admission is confirmed with particularly effectiveness.

Conclusion

Treatment of XB is effective for COVID-19 cases, particularly in reducing the mortality rate of severe cases, suggesting that XB may be used as an alternative treatment of SARS-COV-2 infection. Please cite this article as: Liu TW, Zhang SW, Jiang H, Yang SW, Guo YJ, Ding MY, Li XC, Xu J, Lu HT, Ye HR, Hu YH, Li R, Wei YM, Song MF, Wang S, Zhang J, Feng QS, Xu XL. Effectiveness of Xuanbai Shengmai Decoction, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, on disease progress and viral RNA shedding in COVID-19 patients: A retrospective study of medical chart in China. J Integr Med. 2026; 24(1):115-124.

Key words: COVID-19, Mortality, RNA shedding, Retrospective study, Severe case, Traditional Chinese medicine