Perhaps it's an idea to check your IL-8 serum level, nanna:...
Muon, I agree that IL-8 is a good cytokine/chemokine to measure, not just because of the connection to infection but also because
IL-8 is a tissue-specific cytokine. Most tissues in the body do not release IL-8. IL-8 is release from macrophage cells, but when it comes to tissues in the body,
IL-8 is only released from epithelial cells, airway smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells (
Interleukin 8 - Wikipedia). We could rule out airway smooth muscle cells by testing for
creatine kinase. So this would mean that if during a certain time period macrophage activity is normal but IL-8 levels are elevated, then the IL-8 is likely coming from the vasculature (blood vessels and skin). I think tissue-specific cytokines could aide in narrowing down the location(s) of POIS in the body. Also, some pathogens can only infect (and establish latency) in certain tissues and cell types. So knowing what cell types the IL-8 (or other cytokines) is coming from could rule out (or implicate) potential types of infection.
With that said, I have looked up the prices for
several cytokine test that I am interested in, but I do not have money to invest in these at this time. Thanks for the suggestion though!