Health officials urge Floridians to wear bug spray during Fourth of July celebrations

TAMPA, Fla. - It’s been one week since the Florida Department of Health issued a statewide mosquito-borne illness advisory after four confirmed malaria cases in Sarasota County.

Thankfully, all infected individuals were treated and have recovered, according to state officials.

The cases reported so far have come from the Kensington area and DeSoto Acres in North Sarasota County. Epidemiologist Dr. Manuel Gordillo said the cases were transmitted locally, which hasn’t happened in Sarasota since the 1950s.

Florida's last locally transmitted cases were in Palm Beach County 20 years ago. 

RELATED: Tampa Bay officials confirm second case of malaria in more than three weeks

"Malaria can only be acquired one way, and that is by mosquitoes. You don't get malaria from another person who has malaria usually. So the best way to avoid it is avoiding mosquito bites," Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital Pediatric Infectious Disease Physician Dr. Juan Dumois said.

Since people will be outside grilling and watching fireworks with family this holiday week, now is a good time to ensure you use a good bug spray with effective ingredients.

"One of the most common ones is DEET," Dumois said. "DEET is safe for children as young as two months of age."

Picaridin and IR3535 are other effective ingredients to look for in a bug spray, Dumois added.

"There are several insect repellents that contain botanicals," Dumois said. "Those can be effective, but most of them do not last as long as the other insect-repellent chemicals that I mentioned. So you have to reapply them every hour or two."

"If you get bit, try not to scratch so much that you break the skin. An infection can typically happen during the first two days when the cut is raw," Dumois said.

READ: Sarasota malaria cases prompt statewide health advisory

"How do you know when an infected mosquito bite requires going to a doctor? Well, you see an enlarging area of redness that when you touch it, it hurts, or it's starting to ooze puss. Or with this enlarging area of redness, a child starts developing a fever and not feeling well. That could even be a sign that infection that has started to spread in the skin has reached the bloodstream," Dumois said.

Most mosquito bites will heal normally with no severe consequences. Just remember, put sunscreen on first and bug spray on second.

"The insect repellent has to be able to diffuse into the air to repel the mosquitoes," Dumois said. "So if you put insect repellent and then cover it with sunscreen, you're not going to repel any insects anymore."