We observed that 18 of the 21 biomarkers measured were significantly increased in the pre-infection group compared to the uninfected group (Fractalkine, GMCSF, ITAC, IL-1ß, IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-17a, IL-21, IL-23, MIP-1α, MIP-1ß, MIP-3α, and TNFα) (Fig. 1 and Additional file 3: Table S2). Here, IL6 is linked to infection.