Two new cases of HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, were recently reported in the United States. So what makes them stand out? Both of them got a ‘vampire facial’ from the same clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The New Mexico Health Department announced that they haven’t identified any other sources of the virus in the two cases other than the injection related procedures at VIP spa. And tests done on the two patients indicate the same HIV virus – increasing the likelihood that the two infections may have resulted from a procedure at the spa.
The department is also offering free tests for individuals who received any injections, including the ‘vampire facial’, from that spa, between May and September 2018.
‘Vampire facial’ came into mainstream light in 2013, when American reality star Kim Kardashian posted a selfie of herself covered in her own blood. The treatment, the sight of which may gross out many, apparently uses one’s own blood to help promote the healthy activity of their skin cells.
However, last year, the reality TV star reportedly admitted that she regrets getting the painful procedure done. And went ahead to say that it’s the one treatment “she’ll never do again.”
The spa in question in the New Mexico case was closed in September last year after an inspection by the health department found unsafe practices that could have spread blood-borne infections, such as HIV, to clients.
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