Health
'Vampire facials' at unlicensed spa likely resulted in HIV infections: CDC
Three women likely contracted HIV after receiving so-called “vampire facials” at an unlicensed spa in New Mexico, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The shocking findings would make them the first known cases of the virus being transmitted during a non-sterile cosmetic injection procedure, the CDC says.
A “vampire facial,” according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, is a procedure where blood is drawn from the arm, placed into a machine which “separates the platelets from the rest of your blood,” then is “re-injected into you (only the part of your blood that contains a high concentration of platelets).”
CLOSED NEW MEXICO SALON WHICH GAVE ‘VAMPIRE FACIALS’ LINKED TO NEW HIV CASES: OFFICIALS
Several women likely contracted HIV after receiving so-called “vampire facials” at an unlicensed spa in New Mexico, according to a new report by the CDC. (iStock)
The procedure is also known as “platelet-rich plasma” and is considered to be a more affordable and less invasive option than getting a facelift.
Kim Kardashian is among those to have undergone the treatment. She posted an image of her bloody face after undergoing the process in 2013 but has since come out against the procedure.
The CDC’s investigation states that a woman in her 40s tested positive for HIV while traveling abroad in 2018.
The patient reported no injection drug use, recent blood transfusions, or recent sexual contact with anyone other than her current sexual partner, who received a negative HIV test result after the patient’s diagnosis. However, the patient did report exposure to needles during a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) microneedling procedure in spring 2018 at spa A in New Mexico.
Another person tested positive for the virus during routine tests for life insurance in 2018, while a third did not find out she had HIV until last year, when hospitalized with an “AIDS-defining illness.”
CDC ISSUES HEALTH ADVISORY WARNING OF ‘ADVERSE EFFECTS’ FROM FAKE BOTOX INJECTIONS
VIP Beauty Salon and Spa in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Google Maps)
“This investigation identified an HIV cluster associated with receipt of cosmetic injection services at an unlicensed facility that did not follow recommended infection control procedures or maintain client records,” the CDC states.
While the CDC report did not name the spa, referring to it as “Spa A,” last year a spa in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was linked to several new HIV cases and the New Mexico Department of Health reached out to its former clients stating that there was a risk they may have contracted HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C infection.
The spa, VIP Beauty Salon and Spa, closed in September 2018 after a multi-state agency “identified practices that could potentially spread blood-borne infections, such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C to clients.”
In June 2022, VIP Beauty Salon and Spa owner, Maria Ramos De Ruiz, pleaded guilty to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license, according to KRQE. (New Mexico Corrections Department)
In June 2022, the spa’s owner, Maria Ramos De Ruiz, pleaded guilty to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license, according to KRQE. She was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
However, the source of contamination remains unknown, the report states.
“Although the investigative team was not permitted to collect specimens from spa A, evidence from this investigation supports the likely transmission of HIV through poor infection control practices.”
Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
During a recent episode of her podcast, Gwyneth Paltrow spoke with neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman about retatrutide, a new advancement in GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) therapies.
In recent years, GLP-1 receptor agonists have become a major focus in discussions around biohacking, longevity and wellness – but they’re not without a multitude of side effects.
Huberman noted that while first-generation weight-loss drugs curbed users’ appetites, they frequently plunged them into massive, rapid caloric deficits.
‘NEXT OZEMPIC’ AIMS TO DELIVER 30% WEIGHT LOSS WITH FEWER SIDE EFFECTS
Without aggressive resistance training, a high percentage of that lost weight came directly from lean muscle. “People would lose a ton of weight, but they would also lose muscle mass,” Huberman told Paltrow.
In clinical trials, retatrutide is administered as a once-weekly subcutaneous injection. (iStock)
That is where retatrutide comes in, he said. Unlike older single- or dual-action medications, retatrutide is a triple agonist.
That means it activates the body’s receptors for glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucagon – three hormones involved in regulating blood sugar, appetite and metabolism.
WEIGHT-LOSS EXPERTS PREDICT 5 MAJOR TREATMENT CHANGES LIKELY TO EMERGE IN 2026
“Retatrutide is a more mild agonist of GLP-1,” said Huberman. “It also increases glucagon and … GIP. So, it hits three different pathways, each a bit more subtly.”
In clinical trials, retatrutide is administered as a once-weekly subcutaneous injection.
Without aggressive resistance training, a high percentage of lost weight can come directly from lean muscle mass, said Andrew Huberman. (iStock)
Because of its balanced, multi-receptor approach, Huberman said the drug has a “lower side effect profile” while still allowing people to lose up to a third of their body weight “across a year or so.”
NEW OZEMPIC-ALTERNATIVE DIABETES PILL BURNS FAT WITHOUT MUSCLE LOSS, STUDY SUGGESTS
Most importantly for fitness and longevity advocates, the doctor pointed out that retatrutide seems to have “some muscle sparing effect.”
Because the drug is still moving through official pipelines, a massive gray market of compounding pharmacies and online peptide suppliers has cropped up to meet the growing demand.
Retatrutide is an investigational molecule that is legally available only to participants in Lilly’s clinical trials, according to Lilly’s website, and the company is currently “evaluating its safety and efficacy” in these clinical studies. (iStock)
Huberman issued a strict warning regarding these unregulated online sources, noting that these options “can say 99% purity, but that 1% means there could be some LPS,” referring to lipopolysaccharides, a type of bacterial toxin.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
“LPS will cause inflammation,” he cautioned. “One injection isn’t gonna do it, but multiple injections over time, I could see where that could become problematic.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
Paltrow echoed the safety concerns, comparing the current “wild-west” peptide craze to the landscape of supplements in the 90s, “where there’s really no third-party testing and it’s kind of word of mouth.”
“Multiple injections over time, I could see where that could become problematic.”
Both agreed that anyone exploring these therapies should avoid unverified online sources and prioritize working with a medical doctor.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
Retatrutide is an investigational molecule that is legally available only to participants in Lilly’s clinical trials, according to the manufacturer’s website. The company is currently “evaluating its safety and efficacy.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The drug has not been reviewed or approved by any regulatory agency, and no one should consider taking anything claiming to be retatrutide outside of a Lilly-sponsored clinical trial, experts advise.
Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.
Use escape to exit the menu.
Sign Up
Create a free account to access exclusive content, play games, solve puzzles, test your pop-culture knowledge and receive special offers.
Already have an account? Login
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A new treatment for endometrial cancer demonstrated strong potential in a Phase 3 clinical trial.
Drugmaker Merck announced Monday that the investigational drug sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT) met its “primary endpoints” of overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer.
The TroFuse-005 trial is the first global Phase 3 trial to “demonstrate statistically significant improvement” in survival compared to chemotherapy in these patients, according to a Merck press release.
WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS NOW LINKED TO CANCER PROTECTION IN WOMEN, MAJOR NEW STUDY REVEALS
This was also the first and only antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) to achieve such a result for endometrial cancer patients in this setting, the researchers stated.
An ADC is a targeted cancer therapy that delivers more of the drug to tumor cells while limiting damage to healthy cells.
The investigational drug, sac-TMT, is administered every two weeks via IV infusion. (iStock)
The trial involved 776 patients with endometrial cancer whose disease worsened after receiving both platinum chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
The patients were randomly assigned sac-TMT, administered every two weeks, or a treatment of the physician’s choice, including doxorubin or paclitaxel chemotherapy. The patients were aware of which treatment they were receiving.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Those receiving sac-TMT showed “clinically meaningful improvement” in their disease state compared to the treatment of physician’s choice, the researchers found.
The study also met response rate benchmarks and exhibited similar side effects to earlier studies of the same drug, Merck reported.
NEW BREAST CANCER DRUG WINS FDA APPROVAL AFTER SLASHING PROGRESSION RISK BY NEARLY 40%
The drugmaker did not disclose any statistics on exact survival benefit, response rate, side effect rates or other details, but the researchers aim to present this Phase 3 data at an upcoming medical meeting.
The drug “may be able to address a critical unmet need for certain patients with advanced endometrial cancer,” said the lead researcher (not pictured). (iStock)
Dr. Domenica Lorusso, the study’s global lead investigator and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Humanitas University and Humanitas San Pio X in Milan, wrote in a press release that these results show sac-TMT “may be able to address a critical unmet need for certain patients with advanced endometrial cancer, one of the only cancers increasing in both incidence and mortality worldwide.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
“Despite recent advances, patients whose disease progresses following treatment with platinum and immunotherapy are urgently in need of new options, and these findings show for the first time that a TROP2 ADC may be an effective option in this setting,” she added.
Dr. Brian Slomovitz, co-director of gynecologic oncology at Mount Sinai and an investigator on this trial, reflected on the study findings during an interview with Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
“Unlike many other cancers that we are treating, the number of endometrial cancers and the number of deaths due to endometrial cancers are on the rise,” Slomovitz noted.
“In the United States, the number of deaths due to endometrial cancer has surpassed the number of deaths due to ovarian cancer, [making it] the deadliest of all gynecologic malignancies.”
Endometrial cancer has become “the deadliest of all gynecologic malignancies,” one doctor shared. (iStock)
Despite recent advancements introducing immunotherapy as the standard of care, “better treatment options” for patients with recurrent disease “remains an unmet need,” Slomovitz commented.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
“If the full data confirm this announcement, the key questions will be the magnitude of the survival benefit and the toxicity profile — those will define sac-TMT’s role,” he said.
“But an overall survival improvement in recurrent disease is a real, meaningful result for patients and their families, not just a statistical one.”
-
California2 minutes agoThey used to battle in CA elections. Now, they back the same candidate
-
Colorado8 minutes agoColorado residents who switch to heat pumps can expect more rebates this summer
-
Connecticut13 minutes agoEversource seeks 11% rate hike for Connecticut residents by next summer
-
Delaware20 minutes agoMike Purzycki was enough for Wilmington. We’ll miss him | Opinion
-
Florida26 minutes agoMan who stabbed woman, her daughter to death in Coral Springs to be executed
-
Georgia31 minutes agoWhat channel is Tennessee softball vs Georgia on today? Time, TV schedule to watch Knoxville Super Regional Game 1
-
Hawaii38 minutes agoGeneral plan bill advances in County Council – West Hawaii Today
-
Idaho44 minutes agoMontana Tech, Idaho National Laboratory sign partnership agreement
