The National Health Commission held a press conference on the 25th to introduce the prevention and treatment of winter respiratory diseases and health reminders. At the meeting, a reporter asked: during the high incidence period of infection, referring to popular prescriptions, purchasing drugs online on delivery platforms has become a popular choice for many people. What are the scientific precautions for symptomatic medication? In this regard, Li Yanming, the chief physician of Beijing Hospital, said that drugs for the treatment of respiratory infectious diseases mainly include two categories, the first is treatment for causes, and the second is symptomatic medication. What is causative therapy? Li Yanming explained that the cause based treatment is a direct treatment for infected microorganisms, such as anti influenza drugs after influenza and anti COVID-19 drugs after COVID-19, which are based on scientific judgment of pathogens. The drugs for influenza have no effect on COVID-19, and the antibacterial drugs have no effect on influenza. Therefore, it is necessary for doctors to make judgments, and I highly recommend that everyone use medication under the guidance of a doctor for treatment. Li Yanming said that the second type is symptomatic medication, such as antipyretic drugs, drugs to relieve sneezing, runny nose, and cough, called symptomatic drugs. In the process of using symptomatic drugs, Li Yanming suggests that everyone must carefully read the instructions before use, because many symptomatic drugs are compound preparations, and there are multiple drug components in one drug. If you use them in combination, it may cause an overdose of a certain drug. For example, many cold medicines contain antipyretics. If antipyretics are used at the same time, it can cause an overdose of the medicine. "I hope everyone should pay attention to its effectiveness and safety when taking medication," Li Yanming emphasized. Finally, Li Yanming made a reminder to special populations: elderly people, children, pregnant women, and patients with underlying liver and kidney dysfunction must pay attention to reading the instructions when using the drug, whether it is suitable for use, and also pay attention to adjusting the drug dosage based on liver and kidney function. (Lai Xin She)