CRP and infection: We then examined worsened symptom status through the likelihood of having at least four of eight depressive symptoms as done previously.26, 27, 28 These results suggested that multiple occasions of inflammation increased risk of future depressive symptoms among women only, an association that was robust to adjustment for a range of social, health and behavioural factors and which persisted after excluding women with very high CRP levels, together suggesting that excess risk did not generally reflect a higher burden of chronic disease or occult infection.