Three women in their 40s have reportedly contracted HIV after receiving “vampire facials” at an unlicensed spa in New Mexico, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This would be the first known instance of the virus being transmitted during non-sterile cosmetic injection procedures.
The CDC’s investigation states that one patient discovered they were infected with HIV while travelling abroad in 2018, another tested positive as part of a routine life insurance examination, and the third individual only found out she had contracted the virus last year when hospitalized due to an AIDS-defining illness.
All three women reportedly received platelet-rich plasma (PRP) microneedling treatments at Spa A in New Mexico during spring 2018, and none of them admitted to using injection drugs or having recently engaged in sexual activity with individuals who had tested positive for HIV except their current partners.
The investigation discovered that these patients formed a cluster of infections connected by this clinic, where it became clear they had received treatments under unsafe circumstances because the spa failed to adhere to infection control measures and didn’t maintain client records as required. The CDC report did not name Spa A but instead referred to it only as “Spa A”.
In July 2018, New Mexico health officials informed previous clients of VIP Beauty Salon & Spa in Albuquerque that they could be at risk for contracting HIV, hepatitis B, and C infection after linkages between several fresh instances with this virus cluster and the unlicensed spa. The clinic closed down a few months later following an investigation by multiple state agencies identifying practices that potentially spread blood-borne infections like HIV, Hepatitis B, and C to clients.
In June 2022, Maria Ramos De Ruiz, owner of VIP Beauty Salon & Spa pleaded guilty to five felony counts for practicing medicine without a license as reported by KRQE news station in New Mexico. She was subsequently sentenced to three and half years behind bars.
The CDC’s report suggests that the source of contamination remains unknown, but evidence from this investigation supports the likely transmission of HIV through poor infection control practices at Spa A.
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