A bacteriological study on 161 consecutive out-patients presenting with otorrhoea was performed prospectively at a local teaching hospital in Taiwan between August 2000 and June 2001. A total of 177 isolates were recovered. Staphylococcus aureus was found in 77 (43.5 per cent) isolates, and non-Staphylococcus aureus in 100 (56.5 per cent) isolates. Pseudomas sp was found to be the most common pathogen (28.8 per cent) in the non-Staphylococcus aureus group. Staphylococcus aureus had become more common than Pseudomonas aeruginosa in acute otitis externa, granular myringitis, and chronic otitis media in Taiwan. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was also an increasing problem in all three disease entities. The prevalence of community-acquired MRSA infections in discharging ears was found to be 13.7 per cent (22/161). MRSAs were highly susceptible to vancomycin, teicoplanin, fusidic acid, and minocycline. More studies should be done to determine the susceptibility of MRSA to ofloxacin in the future.