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Two clients at a New Mexico spa that offered “vampire facials” were diagnosed with HIV after receiving treatments, prompting health officials to urge more former patients of the now-shuttered business to get tested for the virus.
More than 130 former patients of VIP Spa in Albuquerque have been tested after New Mexico health officials confirmed a second client contracted HIV after receiving “injected-related” procedures at the facility, KRQE reported. The spa was closed in September 2018 after health officials and representatives of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department and the Barbers and Cosmetologists Board visited the location and discovered concerning practices regarding injectable procedures.
“More recently in this year, we were notified of a second infection," New Mexico health department official Dr. Tierney Murphy said. "The likelihood that these [cases] resulted from a procedure at the spa are high.”
The spa offered several procedures, including the “vampire facial,” which extracts platelets from a client’s blood that is then injected back into the patient’s face through micro-needling, KRQE reported. The procedure gained popularity after celebrities such as Kim Kardashian underwent the facial treatment.
SPA'S 'VAMPIRE FACIAL' CLIENTS URGED TO GET TESTED FOR HIV, HEPATITIS AFTER INFECTION REPORTED
The aesthetician at VIP Spa, however, was using unsafe practices that put her clients at risk of contracting HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, and other diseases, officials said.
"That's way beyond her scope of practice as an aesthetician, so that would not be something that we would even license," Kathy Ortiz, the deputy director for Boards and Commissions, told KRQE. "First off, she didn't have a license, so that was basically why we were able to close the establishment.”
The spa’s owner previously told KOAT Action News that she is cooperating with health officials and that she only uses disposable needles.
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While some believe the “vampire facial” can be effective, scientific studies have yet to prove that it has any long-lasting effects. Doctors also deem the procedure itself relatively safe, but there’s always risk when it comes to handling blood.
"The risk of infection using blood products is greater than using sterile injectibles," New York City-based plastic surgeon Michelle Copeland, M.D., previously told Fox News. "It's not a closed syringe, so there is a risk when transferring the product from one tube to another."
Fox News' Alexandria Hein contributed to this report.
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