In bacterial controls, IL-6, CRP, and PCT were higher (IL-6 80.90 pg/ml [IQR 34.38–278.59], CRP 73.3 mg/l [IQR 14.6–134.1], PCT 0.149 ng/ml [IQR 0.052–0.481]), than in COVID-19 (IL-6 20.77 pg/ml [IQR 4.56–46.48], CRP 28.9 mg/l [IQR 2.6–73.4], PCT 0.046 ng/ml [IQR 0.024–0.116]) with p-values <0.001 for all comparisons. Here, CALCA is linked to COVID-19.