Sri Lanka, June 29 -- If you have had a fever in Sri Lanka during the monsoon, there is a reasonable chance someone in your house has asked whether it could be dengue. The honest answer from the people who treat it every day is that you cannot tell from home. Dengue and seasonal influenza look almost identical for the first two or three days, and that overlap costs lives every single year, not just during outbreak years.

What is dengue, and how does it spread? Quick Answer:

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral illness common in Sri Lanka year-round, with two seasonal peaks tied to the monsoons. Early symptoms (fever, headache, body aches) overlap heavily with flu, so doctors recommend a Full Blood Count test if the fever lasts more than tw...