Quinine giving a further half dose. No injectable preparation of quinine is licensed in the US; quinidine is used instead. Quinine is a flavor component of tonic water and bitter lemon drink mixers. On the soda gun behind many bars, tonic water is designated by the letter "Q" representing quinine. According to tradition, the bitter taste of anti-malarial quinine tonic led British colonials in India to mix it with gin, thus creating the iconic gin and tonic cocktail, which is still popular today. Nowadays, the amount of quinine in tonic is much lower and drinking it against malaria is useless. Quinine
History of malaria used to resist the scourge. Today, artemisinin is present in every remedy applied in treatment of malaria. After introducing artemisinin as a cure administered together with other remedies, the mortality in Africa went down by a half. Malaria researchers have won multiple Nobel Prizes for their achievements, although the disease continues to afflict some 200 million patients each year, killing more than 600,000. Malaria was the most important health hazard encountered by U.S. troops in the South Pacific during World War II, where about 500,000 men were infected. According to Joseph Patrick Byrne, "Sixty thousand American soldiers died of malaria