Three Women Test Positive for HIV After Contaminated ‘Vampire' Facials at Unlicensed Spa

glamour.com:

around 2013—are back in the news for a terrifying reason.In a on April 26, it was revealed that multiple people may have been infected with HIV after undergoing the procedure at a wellness spa in New Mexico.

According to the report, a woman with “no known HIV risk factors” was diagnosed with HIV in 2018 after “exposure to needles from cosmetic platelet-rich plasma microneedling facials.”The owner of the spa, which closed in the fall of 2018, did not have the appropriate licenses to practice the procedure, which involves drawing blood from an individual, which is then spun in a centrifuge to separate the red blood cells from the platelet-rich plasma (PRP).

From there, that PRP is then injected back into the client's face with . The treatment is often used for “evening out skin tone and texture, treating mild scars, and addressing pigment irregularities,” dermatologist Adarsh Vijay Mudgil, M.D., tells Glamour.This content can also be viewed on the site it from.According to the report, an on-site investigation found “multiple unsafe infection control practices” in place, including storing medical injectables like Botox in a fridge alongside food.

A “rack of unlabeled tubes containing blood” were also found on a kitchen counter and it's believed certain pieces of disposable medical equipment were “cleaned by alcohol immersion and reused.”By 2023, an investigation identified four former clients and one of the clients' sexual partners all received positive HIV infection diagnoses.