Hepatitis C and STI
Surveillance & Epidemiology

Reports on Street Youth in Canada

To obtain a printed copy, please contact:
the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Centre
http://www.catie.ca/eng/OrderingCentre.shtml

The following reports present results of data collected from street youth in seven cities across Canada from 1999-2003:

• Canadian Street Youth and Substance Use, Findings from Enhanced Surveillance of Canadian Street Youth, 1999-2003 (November 2007)

• Street Youth in Canada - Findings from Enhanced Surveillance of Canadian Street Youth, 1999-2003 March 2006 (May 31 2006)

• Sexually Transmitted Infections Findings from Enhanced Surveillance of Canadian Street Youth, 1999-2003 (June 2006)

• Epi Updates :

  • Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Canadian Street Youth (1999 – 2005

  • Street Youth in Canada: How Do Injection Drug Users Differ from Their Non-Injecting Peers?

  • Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Canadian Street Youth: The Role of Injection Drug Use

  • Filling the Gaps in Our Knowledge of Youth Health: Enhanced Surveillance of Canadian Street Youth (E-SYS)

  • Who Are Canada's Street Youth? A Socio-demographic Snapshot from E-SYS

  • Chlamydia: A Hidden Epidemic in Canadian Street Youth

  • Sexual Behaviours of Canadian Street Youth: How Risky Are They?

  • Vaccine-Induced Hepatitis B Immunity among Canadian Street Youth (1999-2005)
    

The main report contains an overview of available data and the sub-reports address specific issues relating to the street youth population and contain more complex and in-depth analyses on STIs, substance use and associated sexual risk behaviours as well as hepatitis C and injection drug use.

Findings from the analyses show that street youth leave home for various reasons, the most common being conflict with parents or caregivers. Prevalence rates of STIs and blood-borne infections were higher than in general population youth and examination of subgroups within the street youth sample, such as injection drug users, reveals high prevalence of hepatitis C. High-risk sexual behaviours such as infrequent condom use, and high numbers of sexual partners were also common within this population, as were high levels of substance use.

Our aim is that these findings will be used to provide improved and increased health and social services interventions for street youth in Canada.