TNF and Sepsis: Previous literature has demonstrated that SS2 infection in mice could induce the strong generation of diverse proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in blood, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12, interferon (IFN)-γ, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (GRO-α/CXCL1), C-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5/RANTES) [9].The excessive production of proinflammatory cytokines was considered to be the most important cause of SS2 meningitis and septicemia, as well as STSLS [9, 10].