The Department of Health has issued guidelines to all Chinese medicine practitioners on the diagnosis and treatment of flu based on Chinese medicine theories, as well as on patient referral.

Treatment & Prevention of Influenza - Guideline for Chinese Medicine Practitioners features the differentiation of flu syndromes, treatment principles and examples of herbal formulations, and management of serious conditions.

The department stressed people should consult Chinese medical practitioners before using Chinese medicines, as the guideline is a professional guidance.

The department has been working closely with the Chinese medicine profession, providing them with the latest flu information and relevant guidelines, to enhance their participation in the Government's flu-preventive measures.

In April, the department invited local Chinese medicine experts to draw up a reference document entitled Common methods of prevention and treatment of influenza with Chinese medicine.

Based on experience in the use of Chinese medicine to cure flu and taking the virus' latest developments into account, the department joined hands with the Hospital Authority, local universities and Chinese medicine groups to set up a working group this month to develop the guideline.

The guideline, in Chinese only, will be distributed to all Chinese medicine practitioners by mail. It can also be downloaded here.

Chinese medicine profession kept informed

The department has been keeping the Chinese medicine profession informed of the relevant flu preventive measures the Government is taking.

They have been issued letters on the Framework of Government's Preparedness Plan for Influenza Pandemic in January and two open forums on the subject were held in July.