By Christina Reaves, Director of Research Administration
A couple of years ago, Mercy Jatto, MD, an otolaryngologist based in Nigeria, worked with and learned from Dr. Jennifer Derebery, a House Clinic physician and expert on Ménière’s disease. Dr. Jatto is now at an Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic in Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria. She recently applied for funding from the Cures Within Reach Foundation to test an alternative to antibiotic ear drops for Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM) in pediatric patients.
CSOM is a leading cause of hearing loss among children in the developing world. In Nigeria, there is a higher prevalence of CSOM among children living in poverty. More than 25% of patients cared for by the clinic where Dr. Jatto practices are being managed for CSOM. The antibiotic eardrops commonly used to treat CSOM are showing evidence of resistance and treatment failure. Dr. Jatto proposes we evaluate the efficacy of an alternative—a treatment that has no reported resistance and is more affordable. The outcomes have broad implications that go beyond the developing world.
When we learned that Dr. Jatto and her team practice without a microscope, a critical piece of equipment for any otolaryngologist, we were pleased to be able to donate one. In the coming weeks, the microscope will arrive in Ibadan. We are eager to see both the research move forward and the difference a microscope will make to the clinical practice.