IL6 and infectious disease: Because of the conflicting effects of IL-6 during the progression of different infectious diseases, it is not surprising that the protective allele (rs1800796-C, rs1524107-T, and rs2066992-T) for COVID-19 identified in this study was the risk allele for blastomycosis in individuals of Hmong ancestry, in which high levels of IL-6 are beneficial for the development of antifungal T helper 17 (Th17) cells (15).