Condom Broke: HIV Risk and What to Do Now
A broken or slipped condom is one of the most common reasons people search for HIV information. It is stressful, but it is also something clinics deal with every day, and there is a clear, simple plan for it.
Step 1: decide about PEP quickly
PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) is a 28-day course of HIV medicines that can stop an infection from taking hold. Whether it is worth taking depends on who your partner is:
- Partner has HIV and is not on treatment, or their viral load is unknown: go now and ask about PEP.
- Partner's HIV status is unknown: a clinician will weigh the type of sex and how likely your partner is to have HIV. If in doubt, ask. It is their job to help you decide.
- Partner has HIV, takes treatment and has an undetectable viral load: they do not transmit HIV through sex. This is known as Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U), and PEP is usually not needed.
Step 2: understand the real risk
When a condom breaks, that act counts as sex without a condom. The published per-act estimates for a partner who has HIV and is not on treatment are:
- Receptive anal sex: roughly 1.4% (about 1 in 70)
- Insertive anal sex: roughly 0.11% (about 1 in 900)
- Receptive vaginal sex: roughly 0.08% (about 1 in 1,250)
- Insertive vaginal sex: roughly 0.04% (about 1 in 2,500)
If you do not know your partner's status, the real risk is usually far lower, because most people do not have HIV. The risk is also lower if the condom broke before ejaculation or was noticed quickly. It is higher if there was bleeding, if either of you has another sexually transmitted infection, or if the partner was very recently infected.
Our HIV risk calculator combines these factors for your situation in under a minute.
Step 3: the other practical things
- Washing: gently washing with water is fine, but it does not remove the risk. Do not scrub or douche, which can irritate the tissue.
- Pregnancy: if pregnancy is possible, emergency contraception works best the sooner it is taken. A pharmacist or clinic can advise.
- Other infections: chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis spread far more easily than HIV. A full STI screen about two weeks after the event is worth considering.
Step 4: test at the right time
A test straight away only shows your status before this event. After that, a 4th-generation lab test can usually detect HIV 18 to 45 days after an exposure, and a negative result at 45 days is highly reassuring. Antibody tests, including most rapid and self-tests, are conclusive at 90 days. If you take PEP, the clinic will tell you when to test after the course. See our testing guide for the full timeline.