Don't demand an IV drip for a cold or an ordinary fever, and don't get a drip at the change of seasons to “flush the blood vessels” or “clear the blood vessels”

Cost

Free, and you save the cost of the drip and the hours sitting in a clinic. The hard part is that many people feel a drip makes them better faster, and some older people have made a habit of getting a drip at each change of seasons, so a doctor who won't prescribe one seems not to be taking them seriously.

What you get

No study has specifically compared getting a drip with not getting one for a cold, so this item can rest only on official documents and monitoring data. First, colds. In 2017 the Guangdong Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission issued a document requiring primary care institutions to reduce unnecessary IV drips. The document states that drugs should be used by the principle the World Health Organization advocates: “if it can be taken by mouth, don't inject; if it can be injected into a muscle, don't give it into a vein.” An IV drip is used in only three situations. One, difficulty swallowing. Two, severely impaired absorption, such as vomiting or severe diarrhea. Three, a critical, fast-developing illness where the drug must reach a high concentration in the body quickly. The document attached a list of common illnesses that in principle do not need an IV drip in outpatient or emergency care. The first item under internal medicine is “upper respiratory tract infection: ordinary cold, viral pharyngitis and laryngitis.” Now “flushing the vessels.” The National Health Commission held a press conference on August 6, 2025. At it, a chief physician from Dongfang Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine clarified the rumor. In the original words: “saying that a drip at the change of seasons can clear the blood vessels and prevent cerebral infarction is a wrong claim.” A drip cannot “flush away” or “clear” atherosclerotic plaque. A blind drip may add to the burden on the heart or kidneys, and can even trigger heart failure. Finally, risks. The national annual report on adverse drug reaction monitoring (2024) gave statistics by route of administration. Among the reported adverse reactions, injection accounted for 57.2% and oral administration for 33.1%. Within injection, intravenous injection accounted for 91.0%. This is the makeup of reported counts, not the chance of a problem each time a drip is given. It looks like a good deal because a hanging bottle is something you can see, you finish it lying down, and it makes you feel the medicine arrives faster and in greater amount

Notes

Rated C because there are only official documents and experts' clarifications, and no trial has calculated how many fewer problems come from not getting a drip. If an IV drip is truly needed, get it as usual, for example with severe dehydration, vomiting so much you can't take medicine, or a critical illness; follow your doctor. Asking a doctor for antibiotics for a cold is likewise useless; see §34.7 (no antibiotics for a cold). For diarrhea, first drink oral rehydration salts; see §34.8 (oral rehydration salts). What really works to prevent stroke is keeping blood pressure and blood lipids under control and taking medicine long term as your doctor says; see §1.7 (measure your blood pressure) and §2.12 (test blood lipids regularly). The list of illnesses that do not need an IV drip is set by each province; the Guangdong one is from 2017, and whether it was updated later was not found. The benefit is rated small on judgment: what you save is the cost of one drip and a few hours, and adverse reactions cannot be turned into a probability per drip. The beneficiaries are you and the older people in your family.

Evidence grade

C : The author's experience or common practice, without direct literature.

Sources

1. 广东省卫生计生委办公室 (2017). 关于加强基层医疗卫生机构静脉输液管理的通知（粤卫办函〔2017〕332 号）及附件「门、急诊原则上不需要输液治疗的常见病多发病」，广州市从化区人民政府网站转载. https://www.conghua.gov.cn/attachment/7/7361/7361750/7215543.pdf
2. 国家卫生健康委员会 (2025). 国家卫生健康委员会 2025 年 8 月 6 日新闻发布会文字实录. https://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/c100122/202508/8458a47948274283ab01c6cc672d8015.shtml
3. 国家药品不良反应监测中心 (2025). 国家药品不良反应监测年度报告（2024 年）. https://www.cdr-adr.org.cn/center_news/202504/t20250407_51076.html

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 6, tip 35. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer