“…In Aboriginal children, OM starts earlier, is more prolonged, and more severe than in non-Aboriginal Australian children ( Williams and Jacobs, 2009 ; Williams et al., 2009 ). Most data on OM prevalence in Aboriginal children has been reported from those living in remote and rural areas ( Leach et al., 1994 ; Morris et al., 2005 ; Leach and Morris, 2007 ; Wenxing et al., 2012 ; Leach et al., 2016 ) however, a recent Western Australian study has shown that urban Aboriginal children also experience disproportionality high rates of OM, with over 50% of 6 month old children suffering from OM ( Swift et al., 2020 ). Nasopharyngeal carriage of otopathogens is a prerequisite for development of bacterial OM ( Wenxing et al., 2012 ).…”