Ehab M Ahmed
Clinical Laboratory Sciences Program, Inaya Medical College, Riyadh 12211, Saudi Arabia; Department of Haematology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Dongola University, Sudan
Tayseer Dafaallah Ahmed Masoued
Medical Laboratory Science Program. GHARB EL-NEIL COLLEGE. Sudan
Muslih Haroun ELhussein Gamea
Medical Laboratory Sciences Department, Sudan International University, Sudan
ABSTRACT
Background: Dengue fever is a viral infection transmitted primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and poses a major public health concern in tropical and subtropical regions. One of the key hallmarks of dengue infection, particularly in severe cases, is thrombocytopenia, or a significant reduction in platelet count. Understanding the alterations in platelet counts and indices among dengue patients is important for the early detection of severe disease forms and for improving clinical outcomes. This study aims to assess platelet counts and platelet indices (MPV, PDW, and PCT) among patients with dengue fever. Material and methods: This is a case-control study conducted In Khartoum state -Sudan during the period from September 2024 to October 2024. involving 100 participants. 50 samples from patients with dengue fever as cases and 50 healthy individuals as controls. Blood samples were analyzed by Mindray hematology analyzers (BC2800). The ethical committee of Gharb EL-Niel approved the research, and informed consent was obtained from all participants. The statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, t-test, and Pearson correlation. Result: The comparison of platelet counts and platelet indices between dengue cases and healthy controls revealed significant differences. The mean± SD of platelet count in dengue cases was 197.5 ± 22.6 ×10^9/L, significantly lower than the control group's count of 269.2 ± 38.4 ×10^9/L (p < 0.05). Mean platelet volume (MPV) was also reduced in dengue patients, with a mean of 8.4 ± 0.8 fL compared to 9.8 ± 0.4 fL in controls (p < 0.05). Platelet distribution width (PDW) showed similar trends, with dengue cases averaging 13.4 ± 0.7 fL versus 15.2 ± 1.2 fL in controls (p = 0.001). Lastly, plateletcrit (PCT) was also significantly lower in dengue cases (0.17 ± 0.04) compared to controls (0.21 ± 0.05, p = 0.001 0.05). These findings suggest that dengue fever substantially impacts platelet counts and indices. Conclusions: The results of this study show that dengue fever has a considerable impact on platelet counts and indices. Compared to healthy controls, dengue patients had significantly lower platelet counts, mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW). These data show how much dengue fever inhibits platelet production and function, highlighting the necessity of monitoring these indicators for early detection, severity evaluation, and clinical care of affected individuals.
Keywords: Dengue fever, Platelet count, Platelet indices, Sudanese patients, Thrombocytopenia..
