NBC NEWS – Three women were likely infected with HIV while receiving so-called vampire facials at a New Mexico spa, marking the first known HIV cases transmitted via cosmetic injections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Thursday.
The first HIV case linked to the VIP Spa in Albuquerque was discovered in 2018 and prompted the New Mexico Department of Health to offer free testing to anyone who got injections at the facility.
The department said at the time that the spa was shut down after its investigators “identified practices that could potentially spread blood-borne infections.”
The most recent case was a former client of the spa who tested positive for HIV last year, according to the health department —which led it to reopen the prior investigation.
Now, the CDC report provides new detail about the affected clients and the spa’s practices.
The first case was a middle-aged woman who tested positive for HIV in 2018, the CDC said. She had no history of injectable drug use, recent blood transfusions or recent sexual contact with someone with HIV — but she did report getting a vampire facial.
The second two were also middle-aged women who had gotten vampire facials in 2018. One was diagnosed with the earliest stage of HIV in 2019, and the other in 2023, when she was hospitalized with severe symptoms.
The CDC said the spa did not have appropriate licenses to operate and was not using proper safety measures.
A joint investigation by the CDC and New Mexico Department of Health found a rack of unlabeled tubes of blood on a kitchen counter at the spa, as well as in the kitchen refrigerator, next to food and injectables like lidocaine.
The investigators also discovered unwrapped syringes in drawers, on counters and discarded in trash cans.
The spa’s owner pleaded guilty in 2022 to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license…
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