How Your Immune System Can Help
Your immune system has an arsenal of ways to fight off invading microbes. Most begin with B and T cells and antibodies whose sole purpose is to keep your body healthy. Some of these cells sacrifice their lives to rid you of disease and restore your body to a healthy state. Some microbes normally present in your body also help destroy microbial invaders. For example, normal bacteria, such as lactobacillus in your digestive system, help destroy disease-causing microbes.
Other important ways your body reacts to an infection include fever and coughing and sneezing.
Fever
Fever is one of your body’s special ways of fighting an infectious disease. Many microbes are very sensitive to temperature changes and cannot survive in temperatures higher than normal body heat, which is usually around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Your body uses fever to destroy flu viruses, for example.
Coughing and sneezing
Another tool in your immune system’s reaction to invading infection-causing microbes is mucus production. Coughing and sneezing help mucus move those germs out of your body efficiently and quickly.
Other methods your body may use to fight off an infectious disease include
- Inflammation
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Fatigue
- Cramping