Herbal medicine Eunkyo-san (Yinqiao-san) for COVID-19: A telemedicine case series

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases surged across South Korea during the omicron-variant wave. We aimed to report the effectiveness of herbal medicine administered through telemedicine consultations as an adjunctive therapy for COVID-19. Patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were self-isolating at home were provided telephone consultations through a Korean Medicine clinic between January and March 2022. On the basis of their dominant symptoms, the patients were prescribed Eunkyo-san for seven days. Patients were asked to evaluate the severity of their COVID-19 symptoms before and after treatment by numeric rating scale. Of ten patients, more than half of them reported cough, fever, headache, and sore throat on the first telephone consultation. Patients reported that all symptoms related to COVID-19 disappeared completely on the second consultation. No severe adverse events were identified. The results of this case series suggest that Eunkyo-san administration can be a beneficial adjunctive therapy for patients with COVID-19.