Upon infection, the Il6st expression in unvaccinated mice was highly elevated, peaking at day 4 p.i., before decreasing steadily towards the end of the crisis phase at day 11 p.i. In contrast to unvaccinated mice, the Il6st expression in vaccination-protected mice was delayed on day 1 p.i., before reaching its maximum on day 4 p.i., and then remained at this high level until day 11 p.i., i.e., the Il6st expression was significantly greater in vaccination-protected mice than in unvaccinated mice during crisis (Figure 8C). Here, IL6ST is linked to infection.