Three women were infected with HIV after having “vampire facials” at a New Mexico spa.
The New Mexico Department of Health began an investigation after it was revealed that in 2018, a woman in her 40s was told she was HIV positive, despite not being exposed to any known risk factors such as blood transfusions, sexual contact with someone tested positive, or injecting drugs.
According to The Guardian, a report by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) disclosed that the patient did, however, undergo a "vampire facial" procedure at an unlicensed clinic in New Mexico - meaning she was exposed to needles.
Two other patients who tested positive for HIV had also received the same cosmetic procedure in that same year.
A “vampire facial," is a colloquial term for platelet-rich plasma facials.
It involves extracting a patient's blood and then separating platelet-rich plasma from it using a centrifuge. The plasma is then injected back into the face through small needle punctures.
The procedure is said to help improve the skin's barrier by restoring the production of new collagen and elastin, which can limit the appearance of wrinkles and acne scars.
"Evidence suggests that contamination from an undetermined source at the spa during spring and summer 2018 resulted in HIV-1 transmission to these three patients,” the agency wrote, per The Independent.
The facial gained popularity after SKIMS mogul Kim Kardashian underwent the procedure during an episode of Kim and Kourtney Take Miami.
She shared pictures on Instagram after the procedure, revealing blood-smattered skin that was in the process of becoming more youthful.
The New Mexico spa shut down in 2018 after the investigation by the state's health department was first launched.
The CDC noted that the procedures were performed at an “unlicensed facility that did not follow recommended infection control procedures or maintain client records," per The Independent.
In addition to this, the inspection revealed that there were "multiple unsafe infection control practices,” including unlabeled tubes containing blood on counters, and unlabeled tubes of blood.
Furthermore, investigators also found medical injectables like Botox next to food inside the kitchen refrigerator and unwrapped syringes scattered in various places like counters, drawers, and regular trash cans.
According to BBC, the spa's former owner, 62-year-old Maria de Lourdes Ramos De Ruiz, is serving a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence. She pled guilty in 2022 to practicing medicine without a license.
