IRF7 and infection: However, at later stages of infection, as more IRF7 is induced by type I IFNs, IRF7 induces the production of a delayed set of IFNα genes, including IFNα2, α5, α6, and α8, as well as IFNβ2 and IFNβ3 (14, 17, 18) (Figure 1).