The Deadly Mosquito Bite That Changed History
One of the most famous victims believed to have died from a mosquito bite is Alexander the Great. While invading India, the local king tried to poison him by coating a woman's skin with toxins, but this plan failed. However, Alexander eventually succumbed to malaria. He died in 323 B.C. near present-day Tehran, suffering from a high fever.
The Tiny Killer That Threatened Humanity
Dante, the author of The Divine Comedy, and England's Charles I also reportedly died of malaria. Before the discovery of quinine, malaria was considered a deadly and untreatable disease. Quinine is a natural remedy extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree, native to the Andes in South America.
In 1820, French scientists Pelletier and Caventou extracted an alkaloid compound from the bark and named it quinine. This medicine became famous for saving monarchs like England’s Charles II and France’s Louis XIV. Quinine also stood out for not causing resistance, unlike many modern malaria drugs.
A Prescription Born from Fear
Today, travelers to malaria-endemic countries often take chloroquine—a synthetic antimalarial drug—not quinine. Chloroquine was first used during World War II, when American soldiers in North Africa and the South Pacific suffered heavy losses due to malaria.
At the time, Indonesia, the main producer of the cinchona tree, was under Japanese control, pushing the U.S. to urgently develop a synthetic drug.
Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation spread that chloroquine could prevent or treat the virus. This led to public misuse, prompting health authorities to issue warnings. Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety clarified that chloroquine is not effective against COVID-19, and taking it without supervision can cause serious side effects to the heart and liver. WHO, FDA, and EMA supported the same stance.
A Disease That Evolves Faster Than We Can Treat It
Like many antibiotics, chloroquine has also lost some effectiveness due to resistance. The number of malaria cases unresponsive to chloroquine is rising.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne, acute febrile infectious disease caused by parasites. It is the most common parasitic disease worldwide and is listed as one of the six most serious diseases by the WHO.
Each year, more than 100 million people are infected with malaria, and 1.6 to 2 million people die from it. In fact, one person dies of malaria every 30 to 40 seconds.
The Rise of Drug-Resistant Malaria
The growing problem of drug-resistant malaria is especially serious in developing countries. Chloroquine-resistant malaria is a leading cause of increased death rates. In cases of Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous type, the treatment failure rate with chloroquine is as high as 70–80%.
In comparison, the malaria found in Northeast Asia is relatively mild and is often referred to as "temperate malaria" or "vivax malaria." This form is less likely to be life-threatening and typically recurs every three days.
The Fight Against Malaria Isn’t Over
In the 1940s, China reported 30 million malaria cases per year. But in June 2021, the WHO officially declared China malaria-free.
Japan also made progress through its “Zero Malaria by 2030” campaign. Since 2017, Japan has kept malaria cases under 20 per year, showing that elimination is possible with long-term effort and strategy.
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