Also, we would like to acknowledge Mohammed Jalloh and Serigne M. Gueye for their support in the collection of Senegalese samples and Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, Elaine Spangler, and Bruce Malkowicz for their involvement in the collection of Philadelphia samples.
Thanks to Nadine Strien and Peggy Tausche for support in data collection.
The authors thank: Dr. Paolo Montarsolo, Dr. Giovanni Filippo Bignone, Dr. Enza Bruscolini and Dr. Riccardo Masserano for their support in data collection.
We thank DynaLife Diagnostics, Edmonton, and Calgary Laboratory Services, Calgary, for their support in data collection.
The staff at the Nairobi STI clinic gave immense support in sample collection.
MRK gave general support in specimen collection, interpretation of results and manuscript preparation.
We are also grateful to all members in the Department of Preventive Dentistry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan for their kind hearted support in data collection and data input.
The authors wish to thank the participating families and centres, as well as the members of the self-help organization for their support in data collection.
They also thank Dr. Klodiana Sulaj, Dr. Morena Martinese, Dr. Miriam Divita and Dr. Graziella Romani for their support in data collection and quality control.
The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-230X/11/104/prepub Authank theNational Institute of Health Health Research NIHR and Tehran University of Medical Scienceses for their support in data collection, financial support and collaboration in this study.
