Study finds 37.4% HIV seroprevalence among street youth in St. Petersburg, Russia

 The study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Doctors of the World–USA, and the St. Petersburg City AIDS Center reported that nearly 4 of every 10 street youth (defined as young people living part or full time on the street, or not attending school) surveyed in St. Petersburg, Russia, are HIV-positive, placing this population among the groups most at-risk for HIV around the world.

The study, conducted in April and May 2006 in St. Petersburg, Russia, involved random selection of 22 out of 41 locations where street youth gathered, counseling and rapid HIV testing for all consenting 15 to 19-year-old male and female street youth at these sites, and an interviewer-administered survey. HIV prevalence among the 313 surveyed youth was found to be 37.4%. The HIV rate exceeded 60% among street youth who were orphans and was nearly 80% among those who used injection drugs—among the highest reported HIV rates in the world. The findings also demonstrated that HIV-infected street youth in Russia have a low likelihood of abstaining from sex, are unlikely to have only one sex partner, and are not likely to use condoms consistently.

     The study highlights the fact that the HIV epidemic in Russia, the largest in all Eastern Europe and Central Asia, is most concentrated among youth; that Russia’s 1 to 3 million street and out-of-school youth are at particularly high risk for HIV; and that health officials need to address the social, behavioral, and medical issues that are adversely affecting the health and survival of this high-risk population.

Source: Kissin D, Zapata L, Yorick R, Vinogradova E, Volkova G, Cherkassova E, Lynch A, Leigh J, Jamieson D, Marchbanks P, Hillis S. HIV seroprevalence in street youth, St. Petersburg, Russia AIDS. 2007 Nov;21(17):2333-40.

Submitted by Dmitry Kissin (e-mail: dkissin@cdc.gov)