To determine whether low IFN tone and/or low CXCL10 levels pre-infection are causal factors promoting RV replication and the differential post-infection inflammatory responses observed dysregulated in SE donors, we treated BEC cultures with IFN-β or CXCL10 starting 2 days prior to RV infection and continued for 2 days after RV infection. Here, IFNB1 is linked to infection.