PTX3 and meningococcal infection: Although studies that directly link PTX3 to quantified parasitemia in humans are limited, elevated PTX3 has been associated with greater clinical severity or worse outcomes in a range of infectious diseases (e.g., pulmonary aspergillosis, tuberculosis, dengue, meningococcal disease, leptospirosis, shigellosis) [20,23,25,26,27,28,29], supporting the view that PTX3 tracks inflammation intensity in severe infections.