Is it the flu or malaria? What to know as Florida sees more mosquito-transmitted illness

Florida is under a statewide advisory for malaria, with at least six people known to have fallen ill with the disease after being bitten by an infected mosquito.

People ill with malaria commonly experience flu-like symptoms, which makes it difficult to diagnose the disease unless you undergo a malaria test. While most people recover from the disease with treatment, it can be deadly.

So how do you know if you’re sick with malaria? And how do you treat it?

Here’s what to know:

What are malaria symptoms?

Common malaria symptoms are similar to flu, cold and COVID-19 symptoms, and can include chills, fever, headache, nausea, muscle aches and diarrhea. Malaria can also cause anemia, jaundice, and if left untreated, can lead to more severe health problems such as kidney failure and seizures, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If the disease becomes severe enough, you could die.

Most people begin experiencing malaria symptoms 7 to 30 days after being bitten, according to the Florida Department of Health. However, the CDC notes that some people might not feel ill until a year after the infection.

How can I check if I have malaria?

If you feel under the weather and happen to notice a mosquito bite, don’t panic. It doesn’t mean you have malaria. You could have a cold — while also supplying the meal for a bloodsucker.

But pay attention to your symptoms.

If you have ongoing fever and other symptoms, such as severe headache, vomiting or confusion, see a doctor immediately, said Dr. Stacey Baker, an infectious disease specialist at Baptist Health South Florida.

And make sure to tell the doctor if you traveled recently, particularly to areas where malaria is common, such as parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, large areas of Africa and South Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Oceania, according to the CDC.

For people who live or have recently visited Sarasota County in Florida, where recent malaria cases have occurred, consider going to the doctor if you were bitten by a mosquito in the past two weeks and have a high fever, said Dr. Bobbi Pritt, interim chair and professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Pritt specializes in the diagnosis of malaria and other parasitic diseases.

“If a patient has ongoing fevers, without obvious symptoms of a cold or the flu, such as respiratory symptoms, or another type of infection, and they have a potential exposure to malaria, physicians may consider checking for malaria,” Baker said. “Furthermore, patients with malaria may have abnormalities in their labs, such as anemia, which may prompt evaluation as well.”

To test for malaria, a patient will have their blood drawn and examined under a microscope to detect if there are malaria parasites invading their red blood cells. This is the most common way of diagnosing malaria in the United States and is considered “the gold standard” for diagnosing the disease, although there are other tests that can be used, according to Pritt.

“If you are sick and there is any suspicion of malaria (for example, if you have recently traveled in a country where malaria transmission occurs), the test should be performed without delay,” the CDC says.

Which malaria species is in Florida?

So far, all of the reported cases in Florida are for Plasmodium vivax malaria, also known as P. vivax, one of the most common malaria species that infect humans.

It’s worth noting that P. vivax is known to sometimes stay dormant in the body for months or years, without causing any symptoms, before reactivating and making you ill, according to the CDC.

People diagnosed with this strain are often given a second drug to prevent these malaria “relapses.” But “in general, if you are correctly treated for malaria, the parasites are eliminated and you are no longer infected with malaria,” the CDC said.

How do you treat malaria? How long does it take to recover?

Various antimalarial treatments are available to treat the disease. The drug you’ll be prescribed depends on the malaria species you’re infected with, along with other factors such as how sick you are, your medical history, age, if you’re pregnant, and if you have any drug allergies, according to the CDC.

“Patients usually start feeling better within a few hours to days after being treated for malaria,” Pritt said. “However, the patients may still feel tired and weak for several weeks.”

Is malaria contagious?

Besides bites from an infected mosquito, people can fall ill with malaria from other exposure to infected blood, including blood transfusions and sharing needles to inject drugs, according to the Mayo Clinic. The disease can also spread from an infected mother to an unborn child during pregnancy.

And remember, while mosquito bites seem to just appear (mosquitoes are sneaky little things), draining standing water, using mosquito repellents and wearing long pants and shirts can help you avoid being a bloodsucker’s next meal.