This difference represented a median 1.4-fold increase in GM-CSF relative to healthy controls (medians: HC 1.06 pg/ml; Influenza 1.46 pg/ml), while analysis of plasma samples demonstrated equal medians between healthy controls and fatal influenza (both 7.92 pg/ml) but a 9.7-fold elevation in fatal COVID-19 relative to healthy controls (medians: HC 7.92 pg/ml; COVID-19 76.86 pg/ml). This evidence concerns the gene CSF2 and influenza.