Prior studies of cytokines in blood have found that IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α increase in burn compared to healthy pediatric patients, that elevated circulating TNF-α is associated with death, (Sobouti et al., 2020) and that decreased circulating TNF-α/IL-10 ratio is correlated with an increased chance of infection (Tsurumi et al., 2016). Here, TNF is linked to infection.