Variation in HLA-mediated immunity is largely described as differential CD8+ T and NK cell responses to infection, broadly aligning with the known importance of these cells in immune responses to herpesviruses (Dittmer and Damania 2016; Egan et al. 2013; Laing et al. 2018; Paludan et al. 2011; Picarda and Benedict 2018; Smith and Khanna 2013; Taylor et al. 2015). This evidence concerns the gene CD8A and infection.