02 June 2020 02 Jun 2020

Day 1: Reports of quinine for ‘febrile illness’ date back to 17th century Peru; one legend is that water contaminated by cinchona tree bark was drunk and fever abated. This led to local villagers drying bark, grinding to powder and drinking to cure fever. In the early 19th century quinine was purified from the cinchona tree bark and used to treat malaria. Synthetic forms chloroquine and #hydroxychloroquine followed in the 20th century.