Why can’t HIV be detected during the “window period”?

Many people are confused about the safety of blood donation and blood transfusion. Can blood transfusion really infect people with HIV? Is it true that HIV cannot be detected in blood tests? What is window period infection?

Infection during the “window period”

In fact, the probability of contracting AIDS through blood transfusion during the "window period" is a low-probability clinical event, with a probability of about one in five hundred thousand.

The so-called "window period" refers to the period from when a person is infected with HIV to when viral antibodies can be detected in the peripheral blood, which is generally 2 weeks to 3 months. During this period, no viral antibodies can be detected in the blood, but the virus is still contagious. Only after the "window period" will there be enough HIV antibodies in the blood to be detected.

Therefore, when the blood station inspectors conducted blood tests, all indicators were qualified. After the blood was sent out and transfused into Maomao's body, HIV antibodies continued to multiply and grow.

Confidentiality Bloodshed

The National Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Law clearly stipulates that individuals who conceal the truth about dangerous behavior and cause the spread of infectious diseases will be held legally responsible. Therefore, the Central Blood Station recommends that those who have dangerous behavior should try to avoid participating in unpaid blood donations.

Dangerous behavior refers to behavior that infects people and transmits infectious diseases through blood. Some social behaviors such as drug abuse, prostitution, whoring, and male-male sexual behavior may cause blood donors to be infected with infectious diseases that can be transmitted through blood, such as AIDS. With the increase in the number of people infected with infectious diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and AIDS, the risk of blood-transmitted infectious diseases will increase accordingly.