Question
A condom burst with my positive girlfriend. Will I have HIV now?
16 January 2018. Related: All topics, HIV testing, HIV transmission.
I had sex with my girlfriend and the condom burst while i was inside her. She sent me an SMS a week later and told me she is HIV positive. I didn’t ejaculate inside her. I want to know if there is any chance i did not get infected?
Answer
Hi
Thanks for your question – and the quick answer is that you are much more likely to still be negative. Catching HIV from one broken condom is a very low risk.
The risk of transmission is also lower if your girlfriend is on treatment. She should also have had something called a viral load test. Someones viral load tells you how much virus is in their bloodstreat. The lower this is the lower the risk of transmission is.
If your partner is not on treatment the risk of transmission is about 1 in 500.
If she is on treatment and has an undetectable viral load the risk becomes zero. This is because when viral load is this low, transmission doesn’t occur.
All of this means that you are more likely to be negative than positive.
Taking a test is still a good idea as a routine part of your own sexual health check up.
You can find more information about HIV transmission here.
The answer to Q9 at this link have more information about the need for condoms when viral load is undetectable.
https://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
I suspect my partner and we’ve been using protection since we started relationship. Yesterday while we were in the process of making love while he was about to ejaculate the condom broke n he ejaculated inside me.I’m really worried because I doubt him so much
Hi Phyn,
Feeling tiered and weak can be down to all sorts of things, so try not to panic.
If your partner is on medication and has an undetectable viral load, the risk of him transmitting HIV to you is close to zero. Do you know if his viral load is undetectable?
If his viral load is detectable, then even if the risk that you’ve described sounds low, you will need to test. And ideally you should stop breastfeeding.
Hi Lisa my partner Tested positive while i was prgnant almost a year ago. we broke up now we back again. im not sure if im being paranoid but 3weeks back a condom broke he quickly pulled out it was still eampty and he us on treatment. since this week im always feeling tired and sleepy like how i felt wen i was pregnant am so scared not for me but for our child he is still breatfeeding. i know i need to go to the clinic but am scared to know
Hi Steve,
Please see Q1 here:
https://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
Hi Lisa
I recently paid for sex. During sex my condom was broken. when my penis inside her vagina. I immediately removed my penis and I asked about her health. She said no health problem I stopped xxxxx came outside. since 48 hours. I am unable to sleep… I am feeling very bad. Please tell me what to do now… I came from well settled family…. No symptoms..But I feel little weak…
Hi Sidu,
The risk that you’ve described sounds very small. However, I’d speak to a doctor about this.
Hi Lisa,
I just came out of PEP treatment on 29 January. I was having sex yesterday with a girl, whom their HIV status is unknown to me. The condom broke below the shaft front area, the hole was pretty small but I am worried.
Hi Nana,
If you’re worried that you may have been at risk, you can take PEP. For more info please see here:
https://i-base.info/qa/5255
http://i-base.info/pep-and-prep/
While I was having sex with a HIV positive person my condom removed. What is the effects on me, its been 7 hours now . Is there any treatment I have to go through apart from test ?
Hi Elayo,
What is it that you’d like to know?