IRF7 and COVID-19: Additional studies have confirmed this correlation and in addition shown that in severe COVID-19, blood neutrophils are characterized by an altered expression though epigenic control (hyper- or hypomethylation) of several genes correlated to viral defense such as; type I IFNs, 2-prime,5-prime oligoadenylate synthetases (OAS)1, -2, IFIT3, IRF7, TRIM2 [109].