Amongst the 13 proinflammatory chemokines (CXCL8 (IL-8), CXCL10 (IP-10), CCL11 (Eotaxin), CCL17 (TARC), CCL2 (MCP-1), CCL5 (RANTES), CCL3 (MIP-1α), CXCL9 (MIG), CXCL5 (ENA-78), CCL20 (MIP-3α), CXCL1 (GROα), CXCL11 (I-TAC), CCL4 (MIP-1β) tested (Fig. 2) a significantly higher levels of CXCL8 (p = 0.0061), CCL20 (p = < 0.0001) and CXCL11 (p = < 0.0001) were observed in both encephalitis and meningitis groups compared to controls. Here, CXCL8 is linked to infectious meningitis.