The Use of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Vitamin C by Hospital Care Workers in HK to Prevent COVID-19

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This is a prospective randomized controlled trial study to explore whether the combination of Chinese herbal medicine and Vitamin C is effective and safe to prevent COVID-19 transmission among health care workers in Hong Kong Mobile Cabin Hospital governed by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority who have been caring for patients with COVID-19. A total of 652 adults will be enrolled. Eligible subjects who provide written informed consent will be assessed for inclusion/exclusion criteria. All participants are asymptomatic and test negative for SARS-CoV-2 at the study's commencement. Subjects with major medical illness, renal insufficiency and hypersensitivity to Chinese herbal medicine will be excluded. All participants will receive Vitamin C (VC) supplementation and 28 packets of the herbal medicine free of charge and are advised to consume daily for 14 days. After written informed consent, the subjects will be included and randomly allocated to either CHM+VC group or VC treatment.

Official Title
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The Use of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Vitamin C by Hospital Care Workers in Hong Kong Mobile Cabin Hospital to Prevent COVID-19 Transmission: A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial

Conditions
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COVID-19

Intervention / Treatment
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* Drug: Chinese herbal medicine


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Health care workers in Hong Kong Mobile Cabin Hospital; Asymptomatic and test negative for SARS-CoV-2; Aged ≥18; Voluntarily signing a written informed consent form; Exclusion Criteria: With major medical illness or renal insufficiency; With hypersensitivity to Chinese herbal medicine; Pregnancy or lactation.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Randomized, open-labelled, controlled trial
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: CHM+Vc<br>Participants in CHM+VC group are required to consume vitamin C 1000mg/day and 1 sachet (9 g) of granules daily (1 hour after meal by dissolving 1 sachet of 9g granules in 150 ml of hot water and drink it orally) . | Drug: Chinese herbal medicine<br>* CHM is in the form of granules (9 g/sachet), which is comprised of 10 commonly used medicinal herbs: Codonopsis Radix, Astragali Radix, Lonicerae Japonicae Flos, Saposhnikovia Radix, Schizonepetae Herba, Mori Folium, Poria, Atractylodis Rhizoma, Atractylodis Macrocephala Rhizoma, Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma.<br>|
| Placebo Comparator: Vc<br>Participants will receive vitamin C 1000mg/day for 14 days | Drug: Chinese herbal medicine<br>* CHM is in the form of granules (9 g/sachet), which is comprised of 10 commonly used medicinal herbs: Codonopsis Radix, Astragali Radix, Lonicerae Japonicae Flos, Saposhnikovia Radix, Schizonepetae Herba, Mori Folium, Poria, Atractylodis Rhizoma, Atractylodis Macrocephala Rhizoma, Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Proportion of subjects who become SARS-CoV-2 positive |  | 4 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Number of days of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection |  | 4 weeks | 
| Duration of COVID-19-related symptoms in confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection cases |  | 4 weeks | 
| Safety endpoint | Proportion of subjects with treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and severity of TEAEs (TEAEs are defined as those that are not present at baseline or represent the exacerbation of a pre-existing condition). | 4 weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Chinese herbal medicine, Prevention, Health Care Worker