SOCS1 and infection: Resistance to interferon therapy that is mediated by SOCS-1 is also seen in hepatocytes infected with hepatitis C virus.21 Elsewhere, elevations in SOCS-1 have been implicated in a broad range of other persistent intracellular infections including mycobacterium tuberculosis and group A streptococcus.22–27 In these infections, the pathogen has evolved to hijack this important negative regulator of JAK-STAT signalling28 in order to subvert bacterial killing within the innate immune cell, resulting in impaired pathogen clearance.