A traditional Chinese herbal treatment may reduce fever from H1N1 (“swine flu”) influenza just as well as the prescription medication Tamiflu, a new study suggests. “For thousands of years, Chinese herbs have been used to treat influenza,” study co-authors Dr. Chen Wang and Dr. Bin Cao, of Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, in China, said in an email. “The pandemic influenza 2009 gave us the opportunity to evaluate a standard Chinese herb formula” designed to target the flu, they added. Cao and Wang, who specialize in infectious diseases and clinical microbiology, said the herbal recipe -- known as maxingshigan-yinqiaosan (M-Y) -- is easily accessible throughout China and much less expensive than Tamiflu (oseltamivir).
