Infectious Diseases

The Department of Infectious Diseases (Liver Diseases) of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was established in 2002. It is a distinctive specialty integrating medical care, teaching, and scientific research through the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, with 33 authorized beds and 45 beds actually in operation. As the master’s-degree program and affiliated teaching unit (Department of Infectious Diseases Teaching and Research) of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, the institution chairing the Infectious Diseases Branch of the Zhejiang Association of Chinese Medicine, a National Drug Clinical Trial Base, and a Demonstration Base for the Clinical Cure of Hepatitis B, the department ranks at the forefront of the provincial TCM system in the diagnosis and treatment of infectious and liver diseases. It handles more than 80,000 outpatient and emergency visits annually, discharges more than 2,000 patients, and provides services across the Yangtze River Delta. The department has developed a “famous physicians-led—integrated Chinese and Western medicine—research-driven” development model. It currently has 18 physicians, including 8 with senior professional titles (including 2 national-level inheritors of the traditions of renowned TCM physicians), 3 holders of doctoral degrees, and 11 holders of master’s degrees, forming a tiered team spanning older, middle-aged, and younger professionals.

Technical Advantages

Clinically, the department has established a “three-campus, multidimensional” diagnosis and treatment system: the Qiantang Campus has standardized wards and an artificial liver center; Hubin and Qiantang have specialty outpatient clinics for liver diseases, infectious diseases, and intestinal diseases; and Xixi has a liver disease specialist clinic. Centered on “critical care—chronic disease management—end-stage intervention,” it has built a full-cycle care chain and developed a distinctive system for three key specialty disease areas in which the department has particular strengths: the liver failure subspecialty integrates the theory of “halting progression and reversing decline” of Professor Qian Ying, a nationally renowned TCM physician, with artificial liver support therapy, significantly improving the survival rate; the cirrhosis subspecialty implements a three-tier treatment approach—oral Chinese medicine, external treatment, and interventional therapy—to increase the recompensation rate; and the metabolic fatty liver subspecialty pioneered an intervention model of “metabolic regulation—external-treatment intervention—behavioral reshaping,” establishing a new pathway for reversible weight management.

In the field of infectious diseases, the department has established a precision diagnosis and treatment system covering the full spectrum and possesses core technical strengths in critical infections and fever of unknown origin. Through mNGS, therapeutic drug concentration monitoring, and other methods, it implements multidisciplinary interventions; it has developed a “stepwise investigation—TCM pattern differentiation—targeted intervention” model that integrates PET-CT, second-generation sequencing, six-channel pattern differentiation, and the wei-qi-ying-xue theory, thereby improving the effectiveness of the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.

Academic Status

Master’s-degree program and affiliated teaching unit (Department of Infectious Diseases Teaching and Research) of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, institution chairing the Infectious Diseases Branch of the Zhejiang Association of Chinese Medicine, National Drug Clinical Trial Base, Demonstration Base for the Clinical Cure of Hepatitis B.

Research Achievements

The team has led more than 10 national- and provincial-/ministerial-level projects, including projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, received 3 provincial medical and pharmaceutical science and technology awards, published 5 monographs, and obtained 1 national patent. It conducts research on frontier topics including liver failure and reversal of cirrhosis, and multiple achievements have been incorporated into industry guidelines.