Drugs/Therapy

First HIV Infected Organ Transplant Successful

By Sara Gale | Update Date: May 06, 2016 06:08 AM EDT

First ever organ transplant from HIV infected donor to HIV positive recipient was successful in the U.K. About four organ transplants carried out through the last five years, kept undisclosed to public by far is revealed out finally.

Organs from deceased HIV donors were transplanted successfully to HIV patients that were in need of organs. Two livers from two separate donors and a pair of kidneys from a single donor were transplanted to HIV infected patients in the U.K. through the last five years, according to The Guardian.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) said that though there are risk factors involved in the transplant of HIV positive organs, the breakthrough surgeries would encourage HIV positive patients to donate their organs to the needy after their death. The agency that administers organ donations in the UK, cautiously noted that HIV positive organs will not be transplanted to people without the infection.

"It's exciting that some people with HIV in the UK have helped benefit patients with HIV after their death by donating their organs," said Prof John Forsythe, associate medical director for organ donation and transplantation at NHSBT. "In the UK there is a shortage of organ donors and on average three people a day die in need of an organ transplant."

Forsythe also noted that it is important to make sure that organs from HIV donor don't cause any health issues to the recipient. To donate an organ the HIV patient's body should be responding properly to medications and the person on the other hand shouldn't be having any secondary complications as a result of the disease. Forsythe also explained that the potential donor will be evaluated on how well he is treated for HIV infection and signs of illnesses associated with the disease.

"While organ transplants from donors with HIV are limited to recipients with HIV infection, innovations like this open up the possibility of donation where it did not previously exist and will help to reduce the shortage of donor organs," Forsythe said, reported BBC. "Please don't let the fact you have a health condition stop you from registering as a donor," he added.

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