The plasma expression levels of all chemokines tested (IL-8, RANTES, MCP-1, IP-10; Figure 1A) and all cytokines tested (IL-4, IL-12, IL-18, TNF-α, IFN-γ; Figure 1B) were significantly higher in the severe HFMD group than in the mild HFMD and normal control groups (P < 0.01). The gene discussed is CXCL8; the disease is hand, foot and mouth disease.