Key genes controlling viral infection, systemic inflammatory responses, sepsis, and septic shock were differentially expressed in the Native Hawaiian cohort including RUNX1 (FC = − 2.11, p = 0.001), BCL2L11 (FC = − 2.27, p = 0.002), FOXO3 (FC = − 3.27, p = 1.00E−04) and MAPKAPK2 (FC = − 3.2, p = 2.00E−04). Here, MAPKAPK2 is linked to Sepsis.