Published Monday, May 11, 2020 

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Plasma donations from recovered covid-19  patients are already being made at the National Blood Bank. With these first plasma intakes, treatment will begin in patients with active covid-19 in the country, reported Social Security.

The plasma collection and processing process is carried out by specialists in microbiology, doctors, pharmacists, scientists and representatives of the ministry of Health.

From the National Blood Bank, the process of calling on the recovered covid-19 patients was made to request the donation of blood, from which the plasma is extracted.

Recovered patients have the option to refuse to donate their blood. Those that donate their blood undergo a pre-approval process to be sure that their blood meets the requirements to be donated.

The minimum requirement for donors include: must be between the ages of 18 to 65 years old, weigh over 50 kilos, in good health, must have been previously diagnosed with the virus, completely recovered post-a mandatory 14-day quarantine, and symptom-free, according to the criteria defined by the Ministry of Health.

In addition to the National Blood Bank, Social Security has enabled donation reception rooms in Hospital San Juan de Dios, Hospital México and Hospital Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, all of these in San Jose Province.

The collection procedure can be done in two ways. One is by traditionally extracting blood. This process can be performed once every two months on each patient.

The second is by a plasmapheresis process, which is ideal because a greater volume of plasma can be obtained, close to half a liter of plasma per person, said Social Security.

The donation of plasma by plasmapheresis consists of extracting blood, separating the blood cells using a cellular separator, retaining the plasma and returning the red blood cells and platelets to the donor in the same way. The process takes about 45 minutes.

"Since the plasma is mostly water, donor recovery is very fast and donations can be more frequent, being possible twice a week and up to a maximum of four times in a month," said Social Security in its statement.

Once the plasma is collected, the specialists proceed with the laboratory tests and the preparation of the units with their respective labeling, this way they are ready for medical centers that have covid-19 patients hospitalized making requests for the plasma for therapeutic use.

Also, the plasma collected in hospitals is delivered to the Blood Bank to carry out the proper processing of the laboratory study.

In this first phase, the donor plasma will be used only in public hospitals. Furthermore, in this initial stage, medical studies will also be carried out that record the therapeutic effect of the application of plasma in patients.

The antibodies that are in the plasma of the recovered patients act as a barrier against the virus, which helps the patient recover, said Sebastián Molina, a microbiologist, immunohematology specialist at the National Blood Ban. "These antibodies are like a shield," he said.

According to Molina, immunoglobulins or antibodies are vital proteins that perform a wide variety of functions and influence the balance of the immune system. They are found in the plasma of people.

In this case, the plasma from patients recovered from covid-19 will be used as a medication for patients with the virus who have a severe or critical condition, with less than 14 days of being hospitalized and who meet the criteria for receiving the treatment.

Each patient who requires it will receive a plasma application in two doses equivalent to 200 milliliters each. It will be done by transfusion with a 24-hour time difference between each dose, Molina said.

Antibodies that can be transfused through plasma will have a temporary permanence in patients and will decrease as they work until they disappear, which is why plasma is a treatment and not a cure against the virus, Molina said.

Also, plasma transfusion, like that of other components of blood, presents some risks, which, although rare, should be considered, such as mild to severe allergic reactions, among others.

According to Molina, once you have enough plasma uptake, you can start sending the substance to the Clodomiro Picado Research Institute to start the process to obtain antibodies.

If the antibodies were successfully obtained at the institute, a product with some advantages compared to plasma could be available, such as a higher concentration of antibodies per dose and lower application volume. There are also risks, such as allergic reactions in some people, derived from the components used in manufacturing, and if that’s the case it must be assessed, Molina added.

The Clodomiro Picado Research Institute is in the process of producing a treatment serum against covid-19 disease. While science races to find a cure or vaccine, active covid-19 infected patients continue decreasing.


The Ministry of Health reported on Sunday afternoon a decrease in the number of people infected with the covid-19 to 285 active patients in Costa Rica. Active patients are people who currently have the virus.

Authorities provided the following statistics related to the development of the covid-19 in the country:

• There was an overnight increase of 12 new patients infected with the covid-19.

• The ages of those affected range from 1 to 87 with an average age of 37.

• 21 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 15 are in recovery rooms and 6 have been reported in an Intensive Care Unit with delicate health conditions. Most of the infected patients are quarantined in their homes.

• 106 foreigners infected, of these 14 entered the country unauthorized and are jailed in the facilities of the  Professional Migration Police in Heredia Province.

• Of the 792 infected since the first case was detected in March, 501 coronavirus patients have fully recovered.

• 11,148 people have been ruled out.

• 17,170 medical covid-19 tests have been made.



Steven deaths have been reported from patients infected with covid-19.

On Sunday night the ministry reports the seventh patient death of a covid-19. According to a brief summary an 80-year-old man, a foreigner who lived in Alajuela  was  diagnosed with the virus on May 9. The same day he was admitted into Intensive Care Unit at Enrique Baltodano Briceño Hospital in Liberia, Guanacaste Province.

The man had pre-existing high risk conditions such as his age,   high blood pressure disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which made him more vulnerable to covid-19.

The patient's nationality information was not provided.

On April 20, the  sixth death was a 54-year-old Cuban nationality and Costa Rican resident Alajuela Province. He  was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 6. That same day he was admitted into intensive care at  México Hospital in San José Province. The man had pre-existing conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, among others which made him more vulnerable to covid-19.

He was one of the first patient confirmed with the virus. Officials identified him as a doctor at the hospital where he was being treated for a lung infection and diabetes. According to the authorities, the man arrived from Panamá on Feb. 22 without symptoms at Juan Santamaría International Airport. Days later he went to a hospital where authorities confirmed his infection with coronavirus covid-19.

He was identified as a superspreader of the covid-19. A superspreader is an individual who is more likely to infect others, compared to a typical infected person. According to the authorities, he was linked to 81 people infected with covid-19.

On April 19, a 69-year-old Costa Rican who was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 25 died. He was admitted into intensive care at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José on March 28. He had high blood pressure which increased his risk factor for covid-19 coronavirus, the ministry said.

On April 15, an 84-year-old Costa Rican man who had tested positive for covid-19 on April 1 was reported dead. He was admitted into intensive care at the same hospital, San Juan de Dios, on April 5. The patient suffered from high blood pressure. His pre-existing condition plus his age played major risk factors for contracting covid-19, said the ministry.

On April 8, the death of a 45-year-old Costa Rican was reported. He entered the country from the U.S. in March, where it is presumed he was infected. He was hospitalized for 10 days in the intensive care of the same hospital, San Juan de Dios.

On March 20 was reported the death of 87-years-oldy patient was hospitalized into Intensive Care Unit at San Rafael Hospital in Alajuela Province

Few days before, on March 18 was reported the first patient died also 87-years-oldy patient was hospitalized into  Intensive Care Unit at the same  Alajuela Hospital.


The UNED University provides a daily updated number of total patients, active and recovered, in each district throughout the country on its Covid-19 Map.

As of Sunday night, the pandemic has killed 284,448 patients worldwide according to recent statistics reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.


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Should all the recovered patients donate their blood for plasma treatment to help sick patients?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com