Condom burst? Your HIV risk and wetin to do

Condom wey burst na like no condom

Condom dey very good to prevent HIV. For real life use, e dey reduce di risk from sex by about 80%, and dat number don already count di times wey condom burst or comot. But for dat one act wey di condom fail, di safest tin na to take am say e no protect you at all.

Dat one no mean say HIV don pass. For dat to happen, your partner must get HIV, and di virus must pass enter your body for dat act. Most times, at least one of dis tins no dey happen.

Your risk from one act

Dis na average estimate for one act without condom, wit partner wey get HIV and no dey take treatment:

• Receptive anal sex (di person wey dem enter, bottom): 1.4% (around 1 out of 72)
• Insertive anal sex (di person wey dey enter, top): 0.11% (around 1 out of 910)
• Receptive vaginal sex: 0.08% (around 1 out of 1,200)
• Insertive vaginal sex: 0.04% (around 1 out of 2,500)

If you no sabi your partner status, di chance small well well, becos most pipo no get HIV. For example, for United States:

• Woman wey do vaginal sex wit man wey im status no dey known: 0.00014% (around 1 out of 730,000)
• Man wey do vaginal sex wit woman wey im status no dey known: <0.0001% (around 1 out of 1,500,000)
• Man wey be bottom wit man wey im status no dey known: 0.05% (around 1 out of 2,000)

If your partner get HIV and im viral load (how much HIV dey di blood) dey undetectable (di HIV for blood don low reach where test no fit see am) because e dey take treatment, e no fit pass HIV give you through sex. Na dis one be di foundation of U=U.

Wetin fit change di estimate

• Wen e burst. If di condom comot or tear but your partner no release (ejaculate) inside you, di risk dey lower. Di calculator dey reduce di estimate by 50% wen ejaculation no happen.
• Oda STIs. Infections wey dey cause sore or swelling, like syphilis or herpes, dey make am easy for HIV to pass. Di calculator dey multiply di estimate by 2 if any of una get STI (sexually transmitted infection, wey be infection wey dey pass through sex).
• New infection. For di first weeks afta person get HIV, im viral load dey very high. Di calculator dey raise di estimate 10 times if your partner just get infection recently.
• PrEP. If you dey take PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis: HIV medicine wey you dey take before any exposure to protect yourself) di way dem prescribe am, e dey reduce di risk by about 99% for anal sex and about 90% for vaginal sex. So condom wey burst no go be big worry again.

Wetin to do now

1. Decide about PEP quick. PEP na HIV medicine wey you go take for 28 days, and e fit stop di virus make e no settle for your body. You must start am within 72 hours, and di earlier di beta. Di calculator estimate say PEP wey you start within 24 hours dey cut di risk wey remain by about 90%. Afta 72 hours dem no dey recommend am again, but see wetin to do afta 72 hours.
2. No first wait for test result. Test wey you do now no fit show infection from dis exposure (wen HIV fit don enter your body). If you start PEP, di clinic go do baseline test (di first test wey dem go use compare later), and you no need to wait for di result.
3. Tok to your partner if you fit. If you sabi weda e get HIV, and weda e dey take treatment and im viral load don undetectable, e go change di matter well well.
4. Do test afta di window period (di time afta infection wen test neva fit show HIV). Each type of HIV test need time before e fit catch new infection:

If your first test fall inside di window period, test again afta e don pass. If you take PEP, expect follow-up HIV test about 4 to 6 weeks and 12 weeks afta di exposure. Our guide on how test correct week by week dey explain wetin negative result mean for each point.

5. Tink about STIs too. Condom wey burst fit also pass oda infections, so e good to ask about STI test for di same visit.

Wetin dey front

Most condom wey burst no dey lead to HIV. If condom accident dey happen more than once, or you get partners wey you no sabi dia status, e good to ask about PrEP. E dey protect you even wen condom fail. And if fear dey catch you as you dey wait for result, no be only you: our page on HIV anxiety fit help.