According to the American press, two people were infected with the AIDS virus in a spa in New Mexico. Both had tested a new technique of rejuvenation based on blood injections called “vampire lift”.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, two people were infected with HIV after receiving a facial treatment at a spa called a “vampire lift”.
According to the magazine People, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) has announced that it is taking up the case. The spa in question closed its doors in September 2018 after its managers discovered that this rejuvenation technique using blood injections could spread blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B and C.
“Additional lab testing on samples from both clients indicates recent infection with the same strain of HIV virus – increasing the likelihood that both HIV infections could have resulted from a procedure at the VIP spa,” officials said. Department of Health in a press release.
Presumably, the contamination took place between May and September 2018, when the VIP Spa closed its doors for good. The health authorities invite customers who have visited during this period to be tested free of charge.
More than 100 customers have already been tested according to Kathy Kunkel, Department Secretary. However, the latter insists on the need to screen all clients of this spa who have received a vampire lift. “Testing is important for everyone because there are effective treatments for HIV and many hepatitis infections,” she said in the statement.
What is the vampire lift?
Popularized across the Atlantic by celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Bar Rafaeli, the vampire lift consists of micro-injections of platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Taken from the patient by a simple blood test, this plasma reinjected into the face is supposed to activate cell renewal and stimulate the production of collagen and elastin. According to its followers, the vampire lift thus promises younger, smoother and more toned skin.
“We use it to treat acne, acne scars, melasma, surgical scars, and fine lines and wrinkles,” he previously told Women’s Health Gary Goldenberg, professor of clinical dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. Some people even use it to promote hair growth.
If this biostimulation technique is a hit in the United States, no scientific study has yet proven its effectiveness in skin rejuvenation. It should also not be forgotten that it is a medical technique which must be carried out by a health professional according to a strict hygiene protocol. With, in particular, the use of single-use disposable needles.
Which was obviously not the case at the VIP Spa. Questioned last September by the local channel KOAT-TV, the owner of the spa, Luly Ruiz, had nevertheless affirmed that she only used disposable needles. “I open them in front of my customers every time they come,” she said.
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