Objectives:To isolate and identify the bacterial etiologic agents,including their antibiotic susceptibility pat-t isolated from patients with discharging ear infections.Methods:Between September 2006 and February 2007,178 patients with discharging ear visiting ENT clinics of St.Paul and Tikur Anbessa University Hospi-tals Addis Ababa,Ethiopia were investigated.Results:Of the patients investigated,52.8% were males and 47.2% were females resulting in an overall male to female ratio of 1.1:1.Ear discharge was the commonest clinical finding followed by hearing problem (91.2%),otalgia (ear pain)(74.7%),fever (17.9%)and itching of extal ear (5.1%).S.aureus accounted for 30.2% of the total isolates followed by Proteus ssp. (P.mirabilis,P.vulgaris )(25.4%),and P.aeruginosa (13.4%).Both gram positive and negative bac-teria isolated from ear infections showed low resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents tested.Overall ceftri-axone and ciprofloxacin were the most effective drugs when compared to other drugs tested against the gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.Conclusion:Otitis media was the most common clinical finding in pa-tients with ear infection.With discharging ear,the gram-negative bacteria were the predominant isolates.The susceptibility patt of isolates from the study showed that ceftriaxone,ciprofloxacin and gentamicin were the most effective drugs.It is recommended that treatment of ear infections should be based on culture and sensi-tivity at the study sites.Therefore,efforts should be directed towards early diagnosis and treatment of acute ear infection and continued re-evaluation of the resistant patts of organisms to optimize treatments and reduce complications.