The recent emergence of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in Sri Lanka has been well
documented. Here, we present the results of clinical and laboratory evaluation of adult and
pediatric PCR positive dengue patients who were hospitalized in Sri Lanka during 2004-2006.
Three hundred and fifty seven patients were included in the study. Sixty five patients were
pediatric (aged 0-12) and 292 patients were adult (aged 13-80). Patients were classified as
having dengue fever (DF), dengue fever with hemorrhagic signs (DFHem) and dengue
hemorrhagic fever (DHF). Clinical manifestation of disease differed qualitatively between
children and adults. Vomiting and flushing were most common in children and
arthralgia/myalgia were the most common finding in adults. Thrombocytopenia was more
common in adults than in children. A subgroup of 185 patients had the infecting serotype
identified by PCR. In the pediatric group, three serotypes, DENV2, DENV3, and DENV4 were
found. DENV3 was the most common overall and in all pediatric diagnoses. DENV3 and
DENV2 were encountered in pediatric DHF patients but not out of proportion to theirrepresentation in all pediatric patients. All four serotypes were identified in the adult group,
with DENV3 and DENV2 being the most common. All four serotypes were found in DHF
patients, with DENV3 occurring most frequently but not out of proportion to its occurrence in all
adult patients. Our findings, combined with other recent reports of DENV in Sri Lanka, should
help us better understand the evolving picture of dengue disease in Sri Lanka.