Final answer:
Neutrophils are attracted to sites of infection by chemokines, which are chemotactic cytokines that guide them to areas of damage or inflammation where they perform phagocytosis on pathogens.
Step-by-step explanation:
Neutrophils are attracted to infection sites primarily by chemokines. These are chemotactic cytokines that specifically recruit subsets of leukocytes, including neutrophils, to sites of inflammation, damage, or infection. The process by which neutrophils move towards higher concentrations of chemokines is known as chemotaxis.
Moreover, after the initial infiltration of neutrophils, stimulated by macrophage cytokines, more phagocytic cells like macrophages arrive to remove debris. During severe infections, a high number of neutrophils are attracted to and accumulate at the infection sites, where they phagocytose pathogens and may die afterward, contributing to the inflammation and patrolling against infection.