(QCOSTARICA) Five laboratories have received the endorsement for the acquisition of antibody tests, complying with the provisions of the guidelines for the use of serological tests to identify antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
Laboratorios Echandi, Hospital Clínica Bíblica, Hospital la Católica, Hospital Cima and Laboratorio Labin have been authorized to import tests from the manufacturing companies Abbott and Snibe Inc.
These types of tests measure the concentration of different types of antibodies in the blood, allowing to identify if a person has been previously exposed to the virus that produces COVID-19 and therefore developed antibodies.
The authorized uses of antibody tests are:
- Biomedical research studies, for example, observational, clinical research, duly authorized as established by Law 9234, Biomedical Research Regulatory Law.
- Immune response studies to vaccines against COVID-19, duly authorized by the same bodies mentioned in the previous point.
- Evaluation of the immune response of people who have recovered from COVID-19, for the process of donating and receiving therapeutic convalescent plasma.
- Support for the diagnosis of special medical situations where patients present with late complications of COVID-19 such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and adolescents (MISC) or Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).
- Users of private health services, as indicated by the treating physician.
These tests cannot be used for the diagnosis of the COVID-19 disease and cannot be used to authorize the entry or exit of people to the country through any of the borders.
