Sepsis and infection are the major enemies of the intensivecare patient in whom immunological defenses are severelyimpaired. This major problem is thefocus of attention inthis book, based on the presentation of the FirstInternational Congress on the Immune Consequences of Trauma,Shock, and Sepsis, which is one of the first attempts toexchange ideas on the state-of-the-art in this area ofimmunology. Both basic and clinical research, including newcentres of attention, are described. The growing role ofimmunology in medicine opens new avenues to the under-standing of trauma and sepsis and will allow the design ofnovel therapeutic approaches.