One day in 2023, Ms. A from New Mexico, USA, had a low-grade fever that did not go away, so she had to go to the hospital for examination.
She thought it was just a common cold, but she didn't expect the blood test results to come out, and she almost dropped her jaw:
Ms. A is infected with the HIV virus...
Ms. A was puzzled by this, she and her husband did not have a chaotic private life, and they did not take drugs or blood transfusions, so how could they contract HIV?
After some investigation, she finally realized that the infection was due to a beauty program she had done
- "Vampire Mask"...
(Vampire Mask)
So the question is, how can you still get HIV after wearing a mask?
Because this is not an ordinary mask, it is a mask that involves blood and needles......
Vampire facial masks, also known as autologous stem cell mask technology (PRP facial treatments), make a high concentration of plasma rich in platelets by pumping out part of the body's own blood, adding growth factors from the skin and blood vessels to it, and then injecting it under the skin of the face with a needle, thereby promoting a significant improvement of skin cells.
(Vampire mask requires blood to be drawn first)
This technique was invented in the 90s and is now widely used in many parts of the world. It has become quite popular in North America in recent years.
Well-known Internet celebrity Kim Kardashian is a big fan of this beauty program, and she has repeatedly posted on social media that she looks bloodstained after making a vampire mask.
(Kardashian shows her own vampire mask)
In online medical beauty advertisements, vampire masks are also described as having a significant effect on improving the skin.
(Left: Before use, Right: After use)
In general, the practice of vampire masks is not mysterious, which is to draw some blood from other parts of one's body, add something and then inject it back under the skin of one's face with a needle.
However, this process will use a needle, and everything will be broken on the needle......
Back in 2018, Ms. A, who lives in Albuquerke, New Mexico, frequented a nearby beauty salon. Unable to withstand the repeated recommendations of salon owner Maria De Ruiz, Ms. A tried several vampire mask projects.
(美容沙龙老板De Ruiz)
However, De Ruiz himself not only did not have the qualifications, but also did a rather perfunctory work on the disinfection of medical aesthetic equipment.
As a result, the syringes used for vampire masks were shared by multiple people without strict sterilization.
The HIV virus, through the sharing of needles, was transmitted to Ms. A...
(From Ruiz的美容沙龙)
In 2018, after the first case of HIV infection was revealed at De Ruiz's beauty salon, De Ruiz was arrested by the authorities and imprisoned for three and a half years.
However, because the average incubation period of HIV virus is 2~10 years, in the following years, De Ruiz beauty salon has been exposed to confirmed cases of infection, and Ms. A is one of them.
(The Ruiz被捕)
Not long ago, a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that to date, there have been five cases of HIV infection in De Ruiz's beauty salon.
Four of the cases were women who had tried vampire masks there, and the other one was the husband of one of the women who had been infected through conjugal life.
Since then, more than 200 women who have visited De Ruiz's beauty salon, as well as their spouses, have been notified to get tested for HIV, and there have been no new cases of infection.
(CDC)
However, in the view of the CDC, the HIV infection incident in beauty salons in New Mexico should cause more alarm. Experts believe that:
"A lot of people think it's just a face mask, but when it comes to blood and needles, you should pay attention to it. Because there's a real risk of contracting HIV..."