Abstract
The origin of anti-infective therapy in the Western hemisphere dates back to the use of cinchona bark to treat malaria by the indigenous peoples in South America. This discovery was taken to Europe in the seventeenth century. These observations were used to develop the drug quinine, which is still used in the treatment of malaria today. The Chinese have a 5,000 year history of using herbal remedies that may still lead to new anti-infective agents.
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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
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Finberg, R.W., Guharoy, R. (2012). Introduction and History. In: Clinical Use of Anti-infective Agents. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1068-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1068-3_1
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Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-1067-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-1068-3
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