Indeed, our current data using sensitive immunoassays of the plasma of pneumonic COVID-19 patients support the pathogenic role of an acute surge in the IFNA1 response, at least in a proportion of severe pneumonia patients and COVID-19 patients who died, even though the specific role of type I and III interferons in severe COVID-19 progression is still controversial (45, 46). This evidence concerns the gene IFNA1 and susceptibility to pneumonia measurement.