Host response to acute infection is a complex process involving elements of both innate and adaptive immunities that need to be finely regulated to translate into successful elimination of the microbe. When the process is not correctly regulated or when the infection overwhelms host immunity, it commonly results in severe disease, uncontrolled inflammatory mechanisms, and tissue damage. Understanding the mechanisms leading to the development of appropriate and balanced inflammatory responses to severe infection will contribute to the design of more effective treatments for this condition.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts to understand the molecular, cellular, and clinical events leading to the development of inflammatory damage in critically ill patients with infection. Works on in vitro models (including animals), along with clinical studies, are welcomed. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Role of inflammation in severe community-acquired infections
• Role of inflammation in nosocomial infections, with particular interest in ventilator-associated pneumonia and tracheobronchitis
• Inflammation and physiopathology of severe sepsis
• Balance between the innate and adaptive responses during severe infection
• Systems biology and disease modeling approaches to understand the regulatory mechanism of inflammation in critically ill patients
• Immunomodulatory treatments in this context

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/mi/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/mi/crit/ according to the following timetable: