About the Authors

Ruth B. Thornton

ruth.thornton@uwa.edu.au

Affiliations School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Selma P. Wiertsema

Affiliations School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Lea-Ann S. Kirkham

Affiliations School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Paul J. Rigby

Affiliation Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Shyan Vijayasekaran

Affiliations School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Australia, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Harvey L. Coates

Affiliations School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Australia, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Peter C. Richmond

Affiliations School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Competing Interests

The authors have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: R.B. Thornton, L.S. Kirkham and S.P. Wiertsema have received travel funding from GlaxoSmithKline. S.P. Wiertsema has received institutional funding for investigations into bacteriology in children with recurrent acute otitis media. H.L. Coates and S. Vijayasekaran consult for GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals. P. Richmond has received Institutional funding from GSK for investigator-led epidemiological studies in otitis media and has received travel support from GSK, Wyeth and other vaccine companies to present scientific data and chair workshops. L.K. is a co-inventor on patents PCT/GB2007/002242, PCT/GB2005/001792 and PCT/GB2005/001774. None of the authors have shares or paid employment with any pharmaceutical company. Other authors have no competing interests to declare. This does not alter the authors‚ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: RT SW LK PR SV HC PCR. Performed the experiments: RT SW. Analyzed the data: RT SW LK PR PCR. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RT SW LK PR SV HC PCR. Wrote the paper: RT SW LK PR SV HC PCR.