Among children of 12 months old, Corynebacterium was no longer at lower abundance but Streptococcus stayed at higher abundance in Spn+ samples relative to Spn- samples, once the population was split into AOM-free and sOP+ subgroups (Fig 4B and 4C; p = 5.5 x 10−10 and 0.008). This evidence concerns the gene SPN and infectious otitis media.