Prior research has suggested that at birth, neonates with POE may have substantially reduced neutrophils, decreased levels of inflammatory cytokines in the serum, and reduced IL-2 production during in vitro CD4+ T-cell proliferation compared with control neonates.12 It has been suggested that this immune profile could promote susceptibility to infection, which is consistent with the observation in our study. The gene discussed is CD4; the disease is infection.