The three most strongly upregulated genes (FC > 5) in response to infection were IFNG, IL21, and CCL18, and the three most strongly downregulated genes (FC < 0.32) were MUC7, MUC5AC, and SPARCL1. There was evidence of an association between 20 genes and sex; 16 of these genes were upregulated in females. Here, IL21 is linked to infection.