Traditional Chinese medicine for treating novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background: A new type of coronavirus, 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), is causing an increasing number of cases of pneumonia and has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020. The virus first appeared in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is being used for its treatment. This systematic review and meta-analysis will assess studies of the effects of TCM in 2019-nCoV-infected pneumonia (NCIP).Methods: We will search electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP) and Wanfang database using keywords related to NCIP and TCM. Reference lists of relevant trials and reviews will be searched. We will manually search grey literature, such as conference proceedings and academic degree dissertations, and trial registries. Two independent reviewers will screen studies, extract data and evaluate risk of bias. Data analysis will be conducted using Review Manager software (version 5.3.5) and R software (version 3.6.1).Discussion: This study will provide a high-quality synthesis of the effects of TCM for NCIP. The use of TCM for treatment or prevention of these novel viral infections affecting the respiratory tract will be investigated.Systematic review registration: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020168004