My brother has recently been told he is hiv positive. He believes he acquired it through blood transfusions given to him in 2000. He is a parapalegic with many open wounds, one of which is still active after 5 yrs. He has wound care and been on many antibiotics since he was paralized. I find it hard to believe the virus was not detected sooner, given all his medical problems. Shouldnt he have full blown aids by now and can hiv be dormant so long before rearing its ugly head? P.S. I took care of him and his wounds and body functions, how high of a risk for me as well?.

The average time between the initial infection and the onset of symptoms due to HIV is approximately 10 years. So the answer is yes, the virus can be clinically silent for years, but it is not dormant. By this I mean that the HIV produces copies of itself by the billions even when there are no symptoms.

I don't know why it wasn't detected sooner. Perhaps he wasn't tested before. The risk to you is very low if you wore gloves while caring for him.