Thus, in a patient with an already underlying proinflammatory state, the exposure to a viral infection in which early reports suggest that a cytokine storm syndrome35 occurs, associated with an overproduction of immune cells and proinflammatory cytokines (eg IL‐6, IL‐10 and TNF‐α),36 is likely to predispose to more severe disease. Here, IL6 is linked to viral infectious disease.