The window period is the time it takes from when a patient is infected with HIV to when antibodies are formed. The general time to produce serum antibodies after HIV infection (HIV) is 45 days or less. The time to develop positive serum antibodies is 2-8 weeks for those infected through blood transfusion and 2-3 weeks for those infected through sexual intercourse. Patients during the window period are infectious. The incubation period is the time from the time of HIV infection to the onset of signs and symptoms of AIDS. It averages 12 months in children and can be more than 5 years in adult patients, up to 14 years, and as short as 6 days (in acute cases of infection due to importation of blood products).