IFNA1 and infection: Remarkably, the secreted levels of both interferons (IFN-α and IFN-β) exhibit a gradual increase over the time following HSV-2 infection, with a statistically significant surge observed from 8 h post-infection onwards, with the highest levels of expression observed at the later time points from 24 hpi to 48 hpi and downregulation in their expression after 48 hpi (Figure 2A,B).