The proinflammatory cytokines: TNF‐α (p < .001), IFN‐ɣ (p < .001), IL‐1β (p < .001), IL‐6 (p < .001), GM‐CSF (p < .001), and the anti‐inflammatory cytokine IL‐10 (p < .001) levels were significantly higher in malaria‐infected males and females than in their counterparts without malaria (Table 4). Here, CSF2 is linked to malaria.