Given that infections with herpes simplex virus 1 and human cytomegalovirus both lead to an accumulation of phosphorylated eIF4E; while influenza virus, poliovirus, and encephalomyocarditis virus induce eIF4E dephosphorylation (reviewed in [63]), it seemed reasonable to postulate that viruses can reprogramme gene expression in the infected host via p-eIF4E. This evidence concerns the gene EIF4E and infection.