Can anyone who understands about infection and immunity reassure me?

[Eppia]

I caught a horrible bacterial eye infection from DC (they got it from getting soil/sand in their eyes - doctor agrees with this, btw), but having been fastidious over hand washing, I managed to limit it to one eye. It took a good ten days to clear - had swelling, pus, almost solid redness, irritation. The works, basically. Was an antibiotic eye ointment as prescribed by doctor (I had dosed myself with chloramphenicol but when to doctor when it seemed to be getting worse 4 days after starting antibiotics).

Over the last few days it got a lot better (DC's cleared far more quickly than mine). Yesterday all was normal, bar a tiny bit of gunge in the morning. I finally started to relax.

This morning my other eye is red and a bit gunky. Not sore or swollen yet. I have immediately started dosing with antibiotics.

I really don't want to face another ten days of this. I am squeamish over eyes and this is horrid. I also had an outing planned and I wanted to look half decent for it (that's the colour of my eye!). I just would love somebody to tell me that my immune system (with the help of the antibiotics) conquered the last infection, and, assuming this is the same bacteria, my body now knows how to deal with it and will therefore clear it more quickly?

Any hope or am I just clutching at straws? Thank you in advance!

[Eppia]

Sorry about the length of my post. Conciseness has never been one of my strong points.

[Eppia]

Nobody?

[SlB09]

As far as I understand it depends what the antibiotic is and how it kills the bacteria e.g stops it multiplying etc. Basically yes you may have to carry on treating for another ten days!

[Eppia]

Thanks for the answer, much appreciated. Bother! I was desperately hoping it would recover more quickly this time. Argh. Does this mean I could reinfect the other eye again? (Will obviously be careful anyway).

[underneaththeash]

It may well clear a little more quickly as your body will have produced an antibody to fight it. Producing antibodies to new bacteria can take 48hours+

You need to be very careful with things like towels and pillow cases, wash everything daily. If you do wear contact lenses usually, don't wear them until its completely clear for 48 hours and throw away any contact lenses that you used during the infection and your contact lens case.

[Eppia]

Thanks so much, underneath - that is reassuring and I'll try to remain hopeful! It hasn't progressed much today, unlike my other eye which got disgusting very quickly. Perhaps the fast treatment with antibiotic ointment has helped - last time I let it go for 12 hours or so before starting treatment.

I do wear contacts (dailies) but have left them out for ages. I hate wearing glasses, so was hoping to return to contacts soon.

I haven't washed my pillowcase - that could well be the source of the infection. Thanks for that tip!

Poor DH's eyes are starting to hurt now...