Efficacy and tolerability of HCV treatment in Asian patients according to age and genotype at a tertiary centre in Western Australia N. Saroj 1 , N. Kontorinis 1 , T. Lorenzo 1 , M. Marion 1 , S.L. Chen 1 , W. Cheng 1,2 1 Royal Perth Hospital, 2 Centre for International Health, Curtin Introduction: Race and ethnicity can influence efficacy and tolerability to treatment in HCV. The higher response rate in Asians is thought to be associated with better adherence and tolerability. Objectives: (1) To evaluate the adherence according to age and genotype (2) To assess the effect of age on treatment efficacy (3) Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major health problem. There is huge regional variation in its prevalence and genotypic distribution. Voluntary blood donors are thought to have somewhat lesser prevalence than the rest of the community. Reliable statistics are not available for the entire country, particularly for the rural areas. It is important to know local situation and rationalize use of limited resources. Methods: Retrospective study of the records of patients attending the Free Liver Clinic (FLC) of our hospital located in a rural area of Pakistan, and those screened for HCV infection prior to voluntary blood donation. Results: Patients at FLC (324 out of 1638 [20%; males 65%] were found to have higher chances of being reactive for HCV antibodies as compared to voluntary blood donors (121/804 [14%]; p = 0.004; OR 1.39 -95% CI = 1.11 -1.75). Out of a total of 1022 HCV reactive patients, 904 (88%) were found to be positive on HCV RNA testing. Out of a total of 166 typeable genotypes, 125 (75%; 95% CI = 68.7 -81.9, estimated odds = 3.05) were infected with a single genotype, and only 7 patients (4%) were infected with genotype 1, either alone (n=4) or in combination with 3a. Conclusions: One out of every 5 people tested in our FLC is seropositive for HCV, and 14% of "healthy" voluntary blood donors have the same results. Genotype 1 is very rare in our region.