In TBE patients, the polyfunctional triple-positive cells produced higher amounts of IFN-γ than single IFN-γ-secreting cells (p = 0.002, ANOVA) and similar differences were found in vaccinees, although at lower levels of IFN-γ production (p = 0.01, ANOVA). The gene discussed is IFNG; the disease is tick-borne encephalitis.