Interferon-induced transmembrane protein-3 genetic variant rs12252-C is associated with severe influenza in Chinese individuals.

A variant in the IFITM3 gene increases the risk of severe influenza, but homozygosity is rare in Caucasians. The authors show that the variant gene is homozygous in 25% of healthy Chinese people, and 69% of those with severe pandemic influenza, suggesting that this gene influences the epidemiology of influenza in South-East Asia.