Fig. 3.

Increased proliferation of CD56^dimCD16⁺ NK cells in patients with SFTS A. The expression levels of Ki-67 in CD56^dimCD16⁺ NK cells were analysed via flow cytometry in one representative healthy control, one representative patient with mild disease and one representative patient with severe disease. B and C Percentage and number of CD56^dimCD16⁺ Ki-67⁺ NK cells in the healthy controls (n = 15) and in the patients with mild (n = 9) or severe (n = 9) SFTS upon admission (left panels of B and C) and at different time points during their entire hospital stay (right panels of B and C). The dashed line represents the mean of the healthy controls. Data are shown as the mean ± SD. Statistical analysis was performed using the two-tailed unpaired t test or multiple t tests. The level of significance is indicated as follows: ns, not significant; ****P < 0.0001