New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS): A 30-year-old HIV-positive patient from Nigeria got a new lease of life after a kidney transplant at a private hospital here, a doctor said Sunday.

"Ben Agande (name changed), was bed-ridden due to kidney ailment. He was refused medical treatment at many hospitals due to the complex procedure, as transplant in HIV patients requires tight-rope walking," said Sunil Prakash, director of renal sciences and transplant centre at the B.L. Kapur Hospital.

The patient was transplanted a kidney donated by his brother.

Nearly 95 percent of such cases are successful, but utmost precaution needs to be taken during the transplant as the health-care providers are at the risk of contracting HIV virus.

"Operating on HIV patients carries a significant risk to all health-care providers of contracting the virus themselves. Universal precautions have to be taken.

"Waste and biomedical disposal needs full attention. We are glad that we successfully transplanted this patient with very gratifying outcomes," Prakash said.

According to doctors, kidney transplantation in HIV-positive patients the world over are on the rise in well-established centres, but such transplants are yet less in India.

"The other risk factors are that the immunity-suppressive medicines, which are given to the patient to keep the transplanted organ safe, triggers replication of HIV in the patient.

"Apart from this, the HIV medicines taken by the patient might interact with transplant medicines and worsen the graft," Prakash added.