Various possible courses of the immune response to severe sepsis and septic shock over 28 days. Various possible courses of the immune response to severe sepsis and septic shock over 28 days. (A to D) Immune responses are displayed, with 1 being maximally proinflammatory and −1 being maximally anti-inflammatory. Dotted lines indicate a course leading to death. (E) Overlay of various possible immune response courses during sepsis and resulting aspects with respect to differences in phenotypes of the inflammatory response at various hypothetical time points. Konrad Reinhart et al. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 2012; doi:10.1128/CMR.00016-12