Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can trigger the excessive production and release of a series of circulating cytokines and inflammatory chemokines, especially marked by IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α, also known as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) or cytokine storm, which have been revealed to be closely associated with organ injury, disease severity and death in patients with COVID-19 (Copaescu et al., 2020; Del Valle et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2020). The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is congenital rubella syndrome.