IFNG and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Pneumonia: Moreover, IFN-γ has been proposed as an intriguing target of immunotherapies for influenza-complicated bacterial pneumonia (secondary bacterial pneumonia), because influenza-induced IFN-γ drives inflammatory hypercytokinemia and ultimately lethal lung damage during secondary MRSA pneumonia, despite antibiotic therapy [64].