Without taking antibiotics, can an infectious disease heal itself?

Infections are often caused by bacteria entering the body. These bacteria enter and damage healthy cells and tissues. As a result, doctors often recommend taking antibiotics so that bacteria can be fought. However, can the body actually heal itself from infection without taking antibiotics?

The body can heal itself from infection because of the strong immune system

Dr. Erni Nelwan Sp.PD-KPTI, a doctor of internal medicine and consultant for tropical infectious diseases at RSCM, Central Jakarta, said that the infection can actually heal by itself. "Bacterial or even viral infections can heal on their own without antibiotics, especially if your immune system is strong," said dr. Erni when met at the University of Indonesia Hospital, Depok on Thursday (15/11).

Dr. Erni also said that if you experience symptoms of infection, it is advisable to take symptomatic drugs. Symptomatic drugs are drugs whose function is to relieve symptoms, for example, such as nausea drugs, dizziness medications, or cough medicines. Later, your immune system and your own immune system will fight against the bacteria and viruses that cause infection. In addition, to recover without antibiotics, you should avoid the triggers that cause infection and get adequate rest.

However, antibiotics are still needed to fight infection

In certain cases, antibiotics are needed to treat the infection in the body. Antibiotics work by killing or stopping the growth of bacteria that cause infection. In fact, before bacteria multiply and produce various symptoms and signs, the immune system is already working to destroy and stop the bacteria.

The immune system has white blood cells that are responsible for carrying out attacks. However, when the body cannot handle bacterial growth, the bacteria will continue to suppress the immune system and eventually succeed in infecting the body. In this condition, antibiotics are needed.

The first antibiotic that was made was penicillin, which was developed by one of the well-known researchers, Alexander Fleming in 1928. Since then, antibiotics have been used to treat various infectious diseases that occur due to bacteria.

Taking antibiotics carelessly can cause resistance

Although antibiotics are used to treat various kinds of infections, they are still drugs that can only be obtained by prescription from a doctor. Should not be bought carelessly at drugstores or pharmacies. If you take antibiotics without the correct dose, this can also lead to antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance occurs when you take antibiotics incorrectly. For example, drinking not as recommended by a doctor, skipping doses of antibiotics, or even continuing to take antibiotics with uncertain infection symptoms. If you don't take antibiotics properly, your body won't have enough drug levels to fight bacteria. This condition may cause the bacteria to become resistant, immune, stronger, and more difficult to fight.

Bacteria that are resistant or resistant to antibiotics are often more difficult to kill and more expensive to treat. In some cases, infections caused by resistant bacteria can cause disability or even death. In fact, these bacteria can still spread to family or other people. Therefore, cases of death due to resistant bacteria are very threatening to society.