Three women have likely contracted HIV from receiving “vampire facials” at an unlicensed spa in New Mexico, making them the first known cases of the virus being transmitted during a cosmetic injection procedure, the CDC said.
The cosmetic process known as a “vampire facial,” a less invasive alternative to a facelift, is intended to rejuvenate the skin.
During the procedure, blood is drawn from the arm to separate the plasma and platelets from the red blood cells. The facial skin is punctured with microneedles, prompting the skin to start healing itself while the processed blood, or PRP (platelet-rich plasma), is applied to the skin.
The investigation began nearly six years ago in the summer of 2018, when the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) was notified that a woman was diagnosed with HIV despite not being exposed to the typical risk factors associated with HIV infection; she reported no injection drug use, no recent blood transfusions, and no sexual contact besides with her partner, who tested negative for HIV.
It was then that the woman mentioned undergoing a PRP microneedling procedure at a spa in New Mexico.
A joint investigation by the CDC and NMDOH began and eventually identified four women who received treatment at the spa, and one male partner, all of whom were diagnosed with HIV between 2018 and 2023 despite low behavioral risks.
The five were found to be infected with “highly similar” HIV strains, the CDC said.
“This investigation is the first to associate HIV transmission with nonsterile cosmetic injection services,” the health agency stated.
Difficult Investigation
When investigators visited the spa for inspection in September 2018, they were stunned. “Unlabeled tubes of blood and medical injectables (i.e., Botox and lidocaine) were stored in the kitchen refrigerator along with food,” the CDC said. “Unwrapped syringes were found in drawers, on counters, and discarded in regular trash cans.”
It was determined that the spa’s owner operated without appropriate licenses, and the spa was immediately shut down.
Besides the messy handling of medical equipment, the spa did not even have an appointment scheduling system that stored client information, the CDC said.
“Investigators compiled and cross-referenced names and telephone numbers from [the spa’s] client consent forms, handwritten appointment records, and telephone contacts to create a list of potentially affected clients,” the CDC said.
In addition, the investigative team was not permitted to collect samples from the spa at the time of the inspection in September 2018, as the inspection was conducted under the purview of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, which does not have such authority.
Victims
The investigation identified 59 clients at risk for exposure: 20 who received PRP microneedling at the spa and 39 who received other injection treatments.
By the spring of 2023, four women and one man, ranging in age between 40 and 60, were identified as HIV positive. The four women had received PRP microneedling at the spa between May and September 2018.
The couple was found to have stage 3 chronic HIV infection, indicating that they were most likely infected before the woman’s treatment at the spa.
While the CDC did not mention the spa by name, the NMDOH did report closing down “VIP Beauty Salon and Spa” in Albuquerque in 2018, publicly recommending everyone who received treatment to get tested for HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
The spa’s owner, Maria Ramos de Ruiz, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison in 2022 on five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license.
