UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTION

Clinical Manifestations
  • Respiratory tract infection (RTI): refers to any of a number of infectious diseases involving the respiratory tract. An infection of this type is normally further classified as an upper respiratory tract infection (URI or URTI) or a lower respiratory tract infection (LRI or LRTI). Lower respiratory infections, such as pneumonia, tend to be far more serious conditions than upper respiratory infections, such as the common cold.
  • Upper respiratory tract infection:
    Although some disagreement exists on the exact boundary between the upper and lower respiratory tracts, the upper respiratory tract is generally considered to be the airway above the glottis or vocal cords. This includes the nose, sinuses, pharynx and larynx.
    Typical infections of the upper respiratory tract include tonsillitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, sinusitis, otitis media, certain types of influenza, and the common cold. Symptoms of URIs can include cough, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, headache, low grade fever, facial pressure and sneezing.
  • Lower respiratory tract infection:
    The lower respiratory tract consists of the trachea (wind pipe), bronchial tubes, the bronchioles, and the Lungs.
    Lower respiratory tract infections are generally more serious than upper respiratory infections. LRIs are the leading cause of death among all infectious diseases. The two most common LRIs are bronchitis and pneumonia. Influenza affects both the upper and lower respiratory tracts, but more dangerous strains such as the highly pernicious H5N1 tend to bind to receptors deep in the Lungs.
Treatment Principle
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Aversion to Wind
  • Mild, or severe chills
  • Fever which may be persistent
  • Uneasiness from fever
  • Spontaneous perspiration
  • Headache
  • Nausea
  • Nasal irritation
  • Nasal obstruction
  • Tendency to snore
  • Itchy throat
  • T: Normal
  • C: Thin and white
  • P: Superficial and slow or Moderate and maybe weak
Treatment Principle
  • Create sweat to relieve the Exterior and expel Wind
  • Harmonize Ying and Wei to protect digestion and nourish Wei Qi
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Itching or tickling in the throat
  • Coughing with expectoration of thin, watery or frothy white sputum
  • Chills with low grade fever
  • Anhidrosis
  • No thirst
  • Occipital headache
  • Aversion to Wind
  • Blocked and / or runny nose with clear, watery nasal discharge
  • Sneezing
  • General body aches
  • Maybe asthma
  • T: Pink
  • C: Thin, white and moist
  • P: Superficial and tight
Treatment Principle
  • Expel Wind
  • Dispel Cold
  • Ventilate the Lungs
  • Resolve Phlegm
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • High fever and severe chills
  • Maybe fever only
  • Achiness
  • Anhidrosis
  • Severe occipital headache
  • Loud cough
  • Sticky, yellow mucus
  • Sore throat
  • Generalized muscle aches
  • Nasal obstruction
  • Asthma
  • Aversion to Cold
  • Edema
  • Thirst with a desire for cold liquids
  • Restlessness
  • Irritability
  • Fidgeting
  • Constipation or
  • Dry stools
  • Sometimes dry achy eyes
  • T:  Normal or Red or Red tip
  • C:  Yellow or White
  • P:  Floating and tight or Floating and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Expel Wind
  • Disperse Cold
  • Cool Heat
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Itching or tickling in the throat
  • Blocked or stuffy nose
  • Sneezing
  • General body aches
  • Cough with little or no mucus or
  • Cough with expectoration of thin, watery or frothy white sputum
  • Dry nasal passages
  • Dry lips
  • Mild headache
  • Chills with low grade fever
  • Slight headache
  • Nasal obstruction
  • Dry throat
  • No thirst
  • Intolerance of Cold
  • Anhidrosis
  • Maybe asthma
  • Nasal congestion
  • Cough
  • Sore throat
  • T: Pink
  • C: Thin, white and dry
  • P: Superficial and wiry or Tight or Wiry
Treatment Principle
  • Mildly Disperse Cool Dryness
  • Disperse and descend Lung Qi
  • Resolve Phlegm
  • Transform thin mucus
  • Soothe the Lungs
Herb Formulas
  • Xing Su San
  • Chinese patent medicines:
    Chuan Bei Pi Pa Gao

Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Fever and chills with fever increasing and chills decreasing
  • Headache
  • Anhidrosis
  • Stiffness and pain of the extremities
  • Orbital pain
  • Eye pain
  • Shoulder and neck tension
  • Dry nasal passages
  • Irritability
  • Insomnia
  • Thirst
  • Epistaxis
  • T: Normal
  • C: Thin and yellow
  • P: Floating and slightly flooding
Treatment Principle
  • Dispel Wind
  • Release the muscle layer
  • Clear Interior Heat
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Dry throat
  • Intense thirst
  • Hacking cough with scanty, sticky, difficult to expectorate sputum
  • Low grade fever
  • Night sweats
  • Epigastric pain
  • T: Red
  • C: Little, maybe dry
  • P: Thready and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Clear and Nourish the Lungs and Stomach
  • Generate Fluids
  • Moisten Dryness
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Coughing with thick, sticky, yellow sputum
  • Sore, red, swollen throat
  • Thirst with a desire to drink cold liquids
  • Runny or blocked nose with thick, yellow discharge
  • Fever with perspiration
  • Slight chills
  • Aversion to Wind
  • Headache
  • Maybe dyspnea with flared nostrils
  • Maybe chest pain
  • T: Red tip
  • C: Thin and yellow
  • P: Superficial and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Expel Wind
  • Clear Heat
  • Ventilate the Lungs
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Dry cough with little or no sputum
  • Sputum is difficult to expectorate
  • Maybe hemoptysis
  • Cough may cause chest pain
  • Dry or sore throat
  • Hoarse voice
  • Dry lips and mouth
  • Thirst
  • Dryness in nose
  • Epistaxis
  • Chills and fever
  • Headache
  • Anhidrosis
  • Dry skin and hair
  • Constipation
  • T: Red tip
  • C: Thin, yellow and dry
  • P: Superficial, maybe rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Clear the Lungs
  • Moisten Dryness
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Fever and chills, fever more pronounced or
  • Tidal fever
  • Abdominal distention
  • Thirst
  • Sweat
  • Stifling sensation in the chest
  • Restlessness
  • Gastric disturbances:
    Heaviness
    Nausea
    Severe diarrhea
  • Scanty urine
  • T: Red tip and edges
  • C: Greasy white or yellow
  • P: Rapid and soft
Treatment Principle
  • Disperse Wind
  • Clear Heat
  • Resolve Damp
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Cough with much bright red Blood and no sputum
  • Fever with or without sweating
  • Dry nostrils
  • Red swelling or erosion in the nostrils
  • Dry mouth
  • Dry throat
  • Thirst
  • Burning pain in the nose
  • Slight itching in the nose
  • Shortness of breath
  • Dyspnea or
  • Wheezing
  • Chest tightness and pain
  • High fever
  • Sore throat
  • No chills
  • Aversion to Heat
  • Asthma
  • Headache
  • General malaise
  • Restlessness
  • Dark yellow urine
  • Dyspnea
  • Chest pain
  • Shortness of breath
  • Thick yellow Phlegm
  • Constipation
  • Dry stools
  • Dark-colored, scanty urine
  • T: Red or Red tip
  • C: Thin and yellow or Thick and yellow, maybe dry and sticky
  • P:  Rapid, maybe slippery, maybe forceful or Wiry or Rapid or Flooding and rapid or Wiry and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Clear Heat in Lungs
  • Strengthen when weak or elderly
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • High fever, worse at night
  • Insomnia
  • Irritability
  • Mild thirst with no desire to drink
  • Mental disturbance
  • Speech disturbance
  • Red, dry, painful rashes
  • T: Deep red
  • C: Little or None
  • P: Thready and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Reduce Heat in the Ying
  • Detoxify
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • High fever worse at night
  • Thirst
  • Insomnia
  • Major mental problems
  • Dramatic change of personality
  • Delirium
  • Speech difficulty
  • Aphasia
  • Poor memory
  • Dizziness
  • Maybe fainting
  • Maybe coma
  • Feverish extremities
  • T: Deep red
  • P: Thready and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Clear Heat in Pericardium
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • High fever
  • Confusion of mind
  • Delirium
  • Mania
  • Dark yellow urine
  • Excessive skin rashes all over body
  • Hemorrhage:
    Hematemesis
    Hemoptysis
    Epistaxis
    Hemafecia
    Hematuria
  • T: Deep red, dry or Purple red
    C: None
    P: Rapid or Thready and rapid or Thready and feeble
Treatment Principle
  • Cool the Blood
  • Dispel Heat and Toxins from the Xue Stage
  • Promote Blood Circulation
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Heavy, painful head
  • Generalized sensation of heaviness
  • Back pain
  • Generalized pain or muscle ache
  • Difficulty bending or rotating trunk
  • Mild fever
  • Slight aversion to Wind and Cold
  • Dizziness
  • Anorexia
  • Anhidrosis
  • Stiffness of the neck
  • Sciatica
  • Chest oppression
  • Chills
  • No perspiration
  • Aversion to Cold
  • Lassitude
  • Scanty urination
  • T: Pink
  • C:White or Greasy and white
  • P: Superficial or Superficial and slow or Superficial and soft or Superficial and tight
Treatment Principle
  • Dispel Wind
  • Eliminate Dampness
  • Relieve the Exterior
  • Alleviate pain
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Anhidrosis
  • Pain and stiffness of the head and neck
  • Stuffy nose
  • Blood shot eyes
  • Sores that are red, swollen and painful
  • Generalized body aches and pain
  • Headache
  • Swollen eyes
  • Thirst or no thirst
  • T: Normal
  • C: Thin white
  • P: Floating or Floating and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Induce sweat
  • Release the Exterior
  • Dispel Wind
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Cough with expectoration of copious thick, purulent, yellow-green sputum or blood-flecked, foul-smelling pus (as in Lung abscess)
  • Dyspnea
  • Shortness of breath
  • Asthma
  • Pain in the ribs
  • Maybe chills and fever
  • T: Scarlet
  • C: Yellow and smooth
  • P: Slippery and rapid or Wiry and sometimes irregular
Treatment Principle
  • Clear Heat
  • Counteract Toxin
  • Transform Stasis
  • Drain Pus
  • Resolve Phlegm
  • (The use of Clear Heat / Counteract Toxin herbs and the principle of "Draining Pus" are only relevant when foul-smelling pus is being expectorated such as in pulmonary abscess)
  • Soothe asthma in case of asthma
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Cough with copious, thin, white, frothy sputum
  • Shortness of breath
  • Chest congestion with full feeling
  • Dyspnea which is worse when lying down
  • Sometimes asthma
  • Worse with Cold
  • T: Pink
  • C: Thick, white and greasy or sticky
  • P: Slippery or Wiry and maybe irregular
Treatment Principle
  • Activate the Spleen
  • Dry Dampness
  • Expel Phlegm
  • Purge the Lungs
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Severe, dry hacking cough
  • No sputum expectorated
  • Small amounts of difficult to expectorate sputum
  • Blood tinged sputum (when Yin Deficiency Fire is present)
  • Afternoon fever
  • Night sweats
  • Malar flush (especially in afternoon)
  • Five sole Heat
  • Dry mouth and throat
  • Itching in throat
  • Hoarse voice, low voice or loss of voice
  • Emaciation
  • T: Red and dry
  • C: None
  • P: Thready and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Nourish Yin
  • Moisten the Lungs
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Soft, weak cough with clear thin sputum
  • Physical and mental exhaustion
  • Soft, weak voice
  • Reluctance to speak
  • Shortness of breath
  • Pale face
  • With Wei Qi Deficiency:
    Spontaneous perspiration (daytime)
    Low resistance to common cold
    Tendency to a blocked nose
  • T: Pale
  • C: Thin and white
  • P: Weak
Treatment Principle
  • Reinforce the Lungs
  • Strengthen Qi
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Unproductive cough or
  • Scanty, sticky phlegm or
  • Sometimes blood-streaked sputum
  • Dry mouth
  • Dry throat
  • Low back and knees sore and weak
  • "Steaming Bone" tidal fever
  • Night sweats
  • Malar flush
  • Maybe hoarse voice
  • Maybe pain in shin, foot, and heel
  • Sterility
  • Spermatorrhea
  • T: Red and dry
  • C: None
  • P: Thready and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Nourish Yin
  • Moisten the Lungs
  • Reinforce the Kidneys
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Chronic cough
  • Wheezing
  • Thick, yellow sputum
  • Sensation of Heat and irritability in the chest
  • Gradual emaciation
  • Facial edema
  • Chronic Lung atrophy
  • Coughing of pus and Blood
  • Dyspnea
  • T: Purple
  • C: Thin and white or Thin, yellow and greasy
  • P: Superficial and Deficient especially in the first position
Treatment Principle
  • Tonify Qi
  • Replenish Jing
  • Strengthen the Kidneys
  • Clear the Lungs
  • Clear Heat
  • Transform Phlegm
  • Stop cough
  • Arrest wheezing
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Dry stools
  • Knotted constipation
  • Mouth parched
  • Sensation of burning heat, swelling and pain of anus
  • Urine short and dark
  • T: Pink
  • C: Yellow and dry
  • P: Slippery and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Clear Heat
  • Purge constipation
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Coughing fits with hemoptysis
  • Burning pain in chest and sides
  • Dizziness
  • Face and eyes red
  • Bitter taste in mouth
  • Dry lips
  • Short-tempered
  • Irascibility
  • Restlessness
  • Maybe dark urine
  • Maybe constipation
  • T: Red
  • C: Thin, yellow and dry
  • P: Wiry and rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Clear Liver Fire
  • Purge the Lungs
Herb Formulas
Points
Clinical Manifestations
  • Heavy, painful head
  • Generalized sensation of heaviness
  • Generalized pain or muscle ache
  • Difficulty rotating or bending the trunk
  • Mild fever
  • Anorexia
  • Dizziness
  • Back pain
  • Lassitude
  • Chest oppression
  • Anhidrosis
  • T: Pink
  • C: Greasy and yellow
  • P: Slippery and slightly rapid
Treatment Principle
  • Dispel Wind
  • Eliminate Dampness
  • Clear Heat
  • Relieve the Exterior
  • Alleviate pain
Herb Formulas
Points