Influenza is a highly contagious acute respiratory infectious disease, which has a wide prevalence and high morbidity. Aggressive innate immune responses often induce a cytokine storm, which is associated with elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines, causing lung damage and failure. Severe pneumonia is one of the major causes of death of influenza patients. Currently, the drugs that are clinically used for influenza treatment are mainly antiviral drugs. However, these drugs usually cannot regulate the excessive immune response of the body or reduce lung damage. IL-37, a member of the IL-1 family, has a strong anti-inflammatory function. By inhibiting the secretion of a variety of inflammatory cytokines, IL-37 prevents the occurrence of cytokine storms and plays an important role in infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases and tumors. Therefore, if the anti-inflammatory effects of IL-37 can be applied to the treatment of severe pneumonia caused by H1N1 influenza virus infection, this strategy will undoubtedly provide new directions for the treatment of patients with severe pneumonia.