Measles (rubeola) is an infectious disease caused by multiplication of a single-strand ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus of the genus Morbillivirus in the upper respiratory tract and conjunctiva. It can lead to serious complications and death. Chinese herbal medicines are believed to be effective in alleviating symptoms and shortening the duration of measles, and are widely used as the main or adjunctive therapy to treat measles in China and other countries.
The review authors found a large number of clinical studies providing evidence of Chinese herbal medicines in the treatment of measles. Some of these reports claimed to be randomised controlled trials. However, after telephone interviewing 32 trial authors, we found that none of them used acceptable randomisation procedures to allocate participants and 34 studies included participants with measles complicated with other diseases, for example, pneumonia. Ten trials were non-randomised controlled studies and four trials require further classification. In this update, we were unable to include any randomised controlled trial for assessment. Although no trials were included, the authors reviewed the articles and found no reports of adverse events in the use of Chinese herbal medicines for treating measles. High-quality and large trials are needed.