(WFLA) — With seven confirmed cases of malaria in Sarasota County, there’s growing concern about the spread.
A doctor in Florida spoke to WFLA about his own experience surviving malaria several times.
Dr. Immanuel Amissah, a family medicine physician at WellMed at North Tamiami Trail in North Fort Myers, is from Africa and has not only survived malaria several times, he has also treated many patients with malaria.
“I grew up in Africa. I was born there, and raised there, so malaria is a common disease that we get every so often. So it’s nothing new to us,” said Dr. Amissah. “My symptoms is consistent. I start sweating and I get joint pain so I know it’s Malaria. I don’t even need to test for it, I go straight to treatment and after a day I’m better.”
Dr. Amissah said it’s critical for people to take malaria warnings seriously, as the disease can be deadly.
“The important thing is, there’s treatment for it. So if you’re sick, treatment on time, your life will be saved. Otherwise you can lose your life with malaria if you don’t seek care,” said Dr. Amissah.
Dr. Amissah said the challenge with malaria is the symptoms can be mistaken with the flu.
“It’s very tricky in the sense that malaria is not a common disease in the US, so you think you have the flu. But if you live in an area where cases have been reported and you have these flu-like symptoms on and off and you’re not getting well, you need to see a doctor. Or if you’ve traveled outside the country to a place where malaria is common,” said Dr. Amissah.
All seven cases were reported in the North Sarasota area, according to county health officials. Officials have continued to focus their efforts on the DeSoto Acres and Kensington Park areas.
Two of the cases were identified in homeless people. Health officials have distributed over 1,000 cans of mosquito repellant and have provided 45 bed nets to organizations serving the homeless.
Sarasota County Mosquito Control is conducting extensive specialized trapping operations, specifically for the anopheles mosquito. Approximately 130 of these have been sent to CDC for evaluation. All mosquitoes captured since June 5 have tested negative, according to county health officials.
Sarasota officials offered the following tips to help protect residents from mosquito bites:
- Avoid being outside between dusk and sunrise.
- Wear repellant and loose-fitting long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
- Drain any standing water on your property.
- Remove aquatic vegetation from ponds, lakes, canals, ditches and anything that holds water for a long time and has overgrowth of vegetation.
