'Vampire Facial' Becomes Actual Horror As N.M. Spa Clients Face HIV Testing
The vampire facial was only supposed to sound scary. Sure, it involves extracting the patient's own blood, isolating the platelet-rich plasma by spinning it in a centrifuge and then re-injecting it into the face. But the results are touted to be rejuvenated, smooth and supple skin, not an HIV or hepatitis scare, as clients of the VIP Spa in Albuquerque, N.M., are now facing.
Health officials say those who received the vampire facial there — or any other type of injection-related service — at the spa between May and June 2018 were potentially put at risk of contracting a blood-borne disease. The New Mexico Department of Health is urging them to come for free HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C testing as well as free counseling.
The department was tipped off after a spa client "developed an infection that may have resulted from a procedure performed by the VIP Spa." Health and state regulatory officials performed an inspection and found problems with needle storage, handling and disposal. A health department spokesman told NPR while it is still early in the investigation, no other infections have been identified.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @04:33AM
No, no they wouldn't, unless you just happen to have a dead mans handle on a global release system for a virulent pathogen with a 100% fatality rate for hominids then they wouldn't note your passing as anything more than just another fractional percentage point in their overall stats.
The mistake most commonly made is in thinking that when they do decide to thin the herd they'll be engaging in a 'Mano a Mano' type confrontation and that you can fight them and/or make them pay, the reality is that they'll 'dust' what they deem to be problem areas and then mop up the survivors (if any).
Pandemics (now with added bio-artificing goodness!) are such wonderfully plausibly deniable things...