will your body cure itself of Salmonella?

Answer 1

It actually depends on the species of Salmonella organism you are talking about; if it's just your daily, non-pathogenic Salmonella specie like Salmonella typhimurium, then yes, riding of this bacterium just by your immune system would do the job.

If what you are asking concerns Salmonella typhi, the organism that causes Typhoid fever (also called Enteric fever), then the answer is somewhat gearing towards the no side. There is a possibility to rid of your system of typhoid bacillus (a different term for S. typhi) IF you are not immunocompromised AND if the bacterium is not an aggresive strain, and by aggresive I mean it multiplies pretty well via intracellular growth. Usually, the strain that infected people have is one that is aggresive, which does result in the full blown typhoid fever itself.

In essence, your body's immune system is hypothetically enough to get rid of Salmonella; it just so happens that the bacterium is rather smarter than our immune system since it has the capacity to hide inside our cells (intracellular growth), making it invisible and be able to travel throughout our body (thus the hallmark disease of multi-system disorder that is typhoid fever) and cause global infection. In such cases, antibiotic therapy IS A MUST since your immune system is not capable enough to battle the infection itself.

To make the long story short, the answer is yes in a hypothetically set-up, controlled situation; in reality, the answer gears toward the no side.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

I cannot say for sure, but if it were my life in jeopardy, I would seek medical attention immediately.