The levels of serum IL-6 and IL-1β in the acute stage of severe infection were previously shown to be significantly higher than those in the convalescent stage of severe infection and the acute stage of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, while the abundance of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the acute stage was significantly higher than that in the convalescent stage (P < 0.05) [45]. Here, IL1B is linked to pneumococcal infection.