Post-infectious cough of different syndromes treated by traditional Chinese medicines: A review

The application of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) has a history of more than 2000 years, which have the characteristics of multi-component, multi-target, and high safety. Post-infectious cough (PIC) is a respiratory disease with high incidence. It belongs to subacute cough and accounts for as much as 40%–50%. Cough is the main clinical manifestation of PIC. PIC seriously affects people's life quality because of complex etiology, long-term course of disease, treatment difficulties and other characteristics. Western medicines are based on the principle of symptomatic treatment, so they are often difficult to control PIC fundamentally. These factors could due to that PIC is prolonged and unable to heal repeatedly. TCMs have obvious advantages in treating PIC, with accurate curative effects, less side effects and adverse reactions and are effective in improving PIC-related symptoms and indicators, enhancing patients' life quality and reducing pain. TCMs, guided by holistic concept and syndrome differentiation, advocate determine treatment on the basis of pattern types, and have remarkable clinical treatment effects. As for TCMs etiology, pathogenesis and syndrome types of PIC, TCM scholars have not yet reached a unified standard. However, most of them think that wind pathogen can cause PIC alone, or it can be combined with other evils, which might be the main mechanism of PIC. This paper discusses the advantages and limitations of TCMs in PIC treatment from etiology, pathogenesis, distribution of syndrome types and treatment of TCMs. This article focuses on the treatment methods and pharmacodynamic material basis of wind pathogen, providing ideas in treating PIC of TCMs clinically and innovative drug development.