- By spring 2023, five patients had been identified, including four women.
- The fifth was a man who slept with one of the women but never went to the spa.
- READ MORE: ‘Vampire facials’ at New Mexico salon linked to 3 more HIV cases
Four middle-aged women became infected with HIV while receiving ‘vampire facials’ at a spa in New Mexico, the CDC confirmed.
The official statement marks the first known cases of HIV transmitted through cosmetic injections.
The VIP salon and spa in Albuquerque offered “vampire facials” and was closed in 2018 after an investigation revealed unwrapped needles scattered around the salon and unlabeled syringes.
‘Vampire facials’, popularized by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, involve drawing blood from other parts of the body and injecting it into the face in the hope of stimulating new, rejuvenated skin cells.
VIP Spa owner Maria Ramos de Ruiz, 62, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to five felonies for practicing medicine without a license and is serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence.
The VIP salon and spa in Albuquerque (pictured in April 2017) offered “vampire facials” and was closed in 2018 after two HIV cases were linked. In 2023, three more cases were identified among previous clients.
It is believed that HIV could have been transmitted through shared needles used at the spa.
The first woman tested positive for HIV in the summer of 2018 after getting a vampire facial. She had no history of injection drug use, recent blood transfusions, or recent sexual contact with someone with HIV.
The second and third women also received vampire facials in 2018. One was diagnosed with the earliest stage of HIV in 2019 and the other in 2023, when she was taken to hospital with severe symptoms.
A separate woman and man also tested positive for HIV. The woman received a vampire facial at the spa, while the man contracted the infection by having sex with her. She never received any services from the spa.
The patients ranged in age from 40 to 60 years old, the CDC said.
CDC and health department investigators determined that up to 59 spa-goers may have been exposed to HIV and of those, 20 had received vampire facials.
In June 2022, spa owner 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 charged with more than 20 felonies 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 in September 2018 after an inspection by the New Mexico Department of Health and the CDC. They discovered unwrapped needles scattered in drawers, counters and discarded in trash cans, as well as a rack of unlabeled tubes of blood.
The vampire facial procedure became popular with celebrities and is said to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, plump sagging skin and improve skin tone.
Blood is usually drawn 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 of training in aesthetic medicine and a fake diploma from the University of Phoenix on the wall. The Albuquerque Journal reported.
Ramos de Ruiz’s cosmetologist license had expired in 2013.
Inspectors discovered numerous health code violations, including unwrapped needles, blood thrown into the kitchen sink and unlabeled syringes next to food in the refrigerator, The Albuquerque Journal reported.
Ramos de Ruiz told inspectors he did breast and buttock sculptures, cellulite treatments and ‘vampire facials.’
She was ordained by him The New Mexico Medical Board suspended his unlicensed practice of medicine in the state in December 2018.
Ramos de Ruiz is currently serving his sentence at Springer Correctional Center, according to inmate records.