Published Tuesday, May 26, 2020 

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The first covid-19 infected patient begins plasma treatment, Social Security announced Monday. The treatment is based on antibodies from recovered covid-19 patients.

The medical treatment is being carried out on a 37-years-old woman, residing in Guanacaste Province. She is hospitalized at the recently inaugurated so-called Covid-19 Hospital in San José.

The treatment began on Saturday with the first dose of plasma, on Sunday the second dose was applied, said Roberto Aguilar-Tasara, director of the Hospital.

On Monday, after receiving the plasma the patient was reported with a good clinical evolution to the treatment.

The plasma is obtained from a person already recovered from covid-19, which is then used as a treatment by infusing it into an active patient. Active patients are those who currently have the virus.

The plasma donations were taken from the National Blood Bank from 25 patients who have recovered from the virus. With this donation, 61 bags of plasma have been obtained. From each donor you can get one to three bags per donation, reported Social Security.

According to the Ministry of Security report, by Monday 628 patients have recovered.

Antibodies obtained from a recovered patient act as a barrier against the virus, helping the infected patient to recover, said Sebastián Molina-Ulloa, a microbiologist at the National Blood Bank.

Immunoglobulins, or so-called antibodies, are vital proteins that perform a wide variety of functions and influence the balance of the immune system and are found in people's plasma, Molina said.

Plasma will be used as a treatment for infected patients who are considered in severe or critical condition, with less than 14 days of being admitted to the hospital and who meet the criteria to receive the treatment, reported Social Security.

Each patient that requires it, will receive a plasma application in two doses equivalent to a bag of 200 milliliters each. This is done by transfusion with a time difference of 24 hours between each dosage.

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


Since the first week of May, plasma donations from recovered covid-19 patients have been made at the National Blood Bank. 

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

The National Blood Bank made a call for recovered covid-19 patients to donate blood to help with the plasma extraction process.

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 includes: the ages between 18 to 65, weigh over 50 kilos, in good health, must have been previously diagnosed with the virus, completely recovered a post-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 enabled donation reception rooms in three hospitals in the San José Province: Hospital San Juan de Dios, Hospital México and Hospital Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia.

According to Molina, once they had enough plasma, they sent the substance to the Clodomiro Picado Research Institute to start the process for obtaining antibodies.

The Clodomiro Picado Research Institute continues its process of producing a treatment serum against covid-19 disease. While science races to find a cure or vaccine in the country, in Costa Rica the number of active covid-19 infected patients also continues- although at a much slower rate than its bordering countries.


On Monday afternoon, authorities confirmed 313 active cases. Active patients are those who currently have the virus.

Authorities provided the following statistics of the evolution of the virus in the country:

• Of the 951 infected since the first case was detected in March, 628 coronavirus patients have fully recovered.

• The ages of those affected range from six months to 87 with an average age of 37. On May 14, a 6-months-old baby tested positive with the virus.

• 15 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 13 are in recovery rooms and 2 have been reported in an Intensive Care Unit, ICU, with delicate health conditions. Most of the infected patients are quarantined in their homes.

• 173 foreigners infected, of these 27 entered the country unauthorized and are jailed in the facilities of the Professional Migration Police in Heredia Province.

• 46 foreigners working as truck drivers transporting merchandise were denied border entry because they tested positive for covid-19.

• 15,627 people have been ruled out.

• 23,580 medical covid-19 tests have been made.

• 10 deaths have been reported from patients infected with covid-19 since March.

The updated number of total patients in each district can be reached at the National Distance Education University on its Covid-19 Map.

As of Monday night, the pandemic has killed 345,962 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 health authorities order all recovered covid-19 patients to donate blood to speed up the process of producing the treatment? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com