Tuberculous Otitis Media in a 32 Year Old Ethiopian Woman

Otitis media is one of the commonest upper respiratory tract infections particularly in children. The presence of repeated upper respiratory tract infections could indicate the presence of immunecompromization in adults. Even though the etiologies are mostly bacterial species like S.pneumoniae, H.influenzae and M.catarrhalis for acute ones and many more for the chronic presentations, otitis media can be caused by a number of other etiologic agents. Otitis media as a result of M.tuberculosis is a very rare incident in adults. This is a case report of a 32 year old HIV infected woman from northwest Ethiopia who presented with chronic ear discharge. She was treated repeatedly with different antibiotics which did not bring any improvement until the case was incidentally discovered to have been caused by M.tuberculosis.