ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two former clients of a New Mexico spa that offered "vampire facials" have been diagnosed with HIV, state health officials said Monday.
NMDOH Continues Offering Free Medical Testing for Albuquerque's former VIP Spa Customers
— NM Dept. of Health (@NMDOH) April 29, 2019
For details, visit https://t.co/qbpkiUHAjp pic.twitter.com/tqc3VoWyU7
According to the New Mexico Department of Health, both clients "received injection-related procedures" at the now-shuttered VIP Spa in Albuquerque between May and September of last year.
Tests found that the clients recently were infected with the same strain of the virus, "increasing the likelihood that the two HIV infections may have resulted from a procedure at the VIP Spa," the news release said.
The spa, which shut down in September after a health inspection, offered "vampire facials," procedures in which plasma is extracted from a client's own blood, then injected into the patron's face, KRQE-TV reported.
The treatment gained popularity in 2013 when reality TV star Kim Kardashian posted about it on Instagram.
>> See her 2013 Instagram post here
The state Health Department is offering free HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C testing for former clients of the spa. So far, more than 100 patrons have been tested, officials said.
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