HIV is transmitted (passed on) from an HIV-infected person to another person. HIV can be transmitted by the infected person even if he/she does not look sick or has not tested "positive" in the HIV blood test. This is true because the presence of HIV antibodies may not be detected in blood for up to six months after infection.In fact, soon after infection, HIV-specific antibodies take time to be produced, whereas the virus is present and replicating. This period of absence of HIV-specific antibodies may vary from 20 day up to six months after infection and is called "window period". During the window period, the infection can be detected by testing for the presence of viral RNA in blood. |
