Measurement of D-dimer Level Among COVID-19 Vaccinated Individuals at Khartoum State, Sudan

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic affects millions of people worldwide with a high number of morbidities and mortality. The virus was first identified and reported from Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Several COVID-19 vaccines were developed and disseminated worldwide. Several hemostatic changes were found in individuals who took the COVID-19 vaccine. The aim of this study was to measure the D-dimer level among individuals who have taken the COVID-19 vaccine and to compare them to unvaccinated individuals (control) in Khartoum State in 2023. Methods: This study was a case-control descriptive study conducted at Al-Riada Modern Medical Laboratory in Khartoum State during the period from January 2023 to April 2023 on 100 samples to measure D-dimer level. For each participant, 2.8 ml of blood was collected in a trisodium citrate anticoagulant container with a volume ratio of 1:9, and platelet-poor plasma was prepared by sample centrifugation at 3500 for 15 minutes. The D-dimer was assessed by the sandwich immunodetection method (FinecareTM). Results: The gender distribution was (20, 30) in the case group and (26, 24) in the control group for males and females, respectively. The mean age of the case group was 38 years, while the mean age of the control group was 40 years. The frequency of COVID-19 vaccine types was 26, 9, 8, 7, AstraZeneca, Johnson, Pfizer, and Sinopharm, respectively. The mean post-vaccination exposure duration in the case group was 23. The study showed the D-dimer mean was significantly increased in the case group compared to the control group (0.97 mg/LL and 0.214 mg/LL respectively) (P value: 0.000). Conclusion: D-dimer was significantly increased among individuals vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine compared to unvaccinated individuals in the control group. None of the gender, age, or vaccine type showed a significant correlation with D-dimer level.