During infection and cell injury, acetylated HMGB1 is translocated from the nucleus to the extracellular milieu to act as a proinflammatory cytokine, causing inflammatory responses13 as seen in various virus-infected cells such as hepatitis C virus, dengue virus, West Nile virus, herpes simplex virus, human immunodeficiency virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐214–20. This evidence concerns the gene HMGB1 and infection.