The CDC revealed that four middle-aged women became infected with HIV while undergoing ‘vampire facials’ at a spa in New Mexico.
The official announcement identifies the first known HIV cases spread via cosmetic injection.
In 2018, an inquiry found unwrapped needles and unlabeled syringes at VIP Beauty Salon and Spa in Albuquerque, which provided ‘vampire facials’.
Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian have popularized ‘vampire facials’, which entail injecting blood from other parts of the body into the face to stimulate new skin cells.
Maria Ramos de Ruiz, 62, the proprietor of VIP Spa, pled guilty in June 2022 to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license and is currently serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence.
VIP Beauty Salon and Spa in Albuquerque (seen in April 2017) provided ‘vampire facials’ and shuttered in 2018 after two HIV cases were linked to it. In 2023, three further incidents among earlier consumers were detected.
HIV is alleged to have spread through shared needles at the spa.
The first woman tested positive with HIV in summer 2018 after receiving a vampire facial. She had no history of injectable drug use, recent blood transfusions, or π eπ₯ual interaction with someone living with HIV.
In 2018, the second and third women each received a vampire facial. One was diagnosed with the early stages of HIV in 2019, and the other in 2023, when she was admitted to the hospital with serious symptoms.
A separate woman and male tested positive for HIV. The woman received a vampire facial at the spa, and the man caught the virus after having intercourse with her. He never received any spa services.
The CDC said that the patients ranged in age from 40 to 60 years.
The CDC and health department investigations discovered that up to 59 spa attendees may have been infected with HIV, with 20 of them receiving vampire facials.
In June 2022, the spa’s ownerΒ Maria Ramos de Ruiz, 62, pleaded guilty to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Maria Ramos de Ruiz (pictured in 2021) was indicted on more than 20 felony counts after two clients claimed they contracted HIV from a ‘vampire facial’ at her salon
Kim Kardashian popularized the ‘vampire facial’ when she posted a selfie of her face covered in blood in 2013
The spa, at 809 Tijeras Avenue, closed inΒ September 2018 after an inspection by the New Mexico Department of Health and the CDCΒ discovered unwrapped needles scattered in drawers, on counters and discarded in trash cans, as well as a rack of unlabeled blood tubes.
The vampire facial procedure was made popular by celebrities and is said to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, plump sagging skin and improve skin tone.
Blood is usually taken from the arm and separated into ‘youth-boosting’ platelet-rich plasma, which is then applied to facial skin that has been pricked with microneedles.
Inspectors also found fake certificates for cosmetic medicine training on the wall and a fake diploma from the University of Phoenix,Β The Albuquerque Journal reported.
Ramos de Ruiz’s cosmetologist license had expired in 2013.
Inspectors uncovered numerous health code violations, including unwrapped needles, blood being dumped into the kitchen sink and unlabeled syringes beside food in the refrigerator,Β The Albuquerque Journal reported.
Ramos de Ruiz told inspectors that she did breast and buttocks sculpting, cellulite treatments and ‘vampire facials’
She was ordered by theΒ New Mexico Medical Board to stop her unlicensed practice of medicine in the state in December of 2018.
Ramos de Ruiz is currently serving her sentence at Springer Correctional Center, according to inmate records.
