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Pope Francis is being treated in hospital for bilateral pneumonia , otherwise known as double pneumonia , according to a command released by the Holy See Press Office on Tuesday ( Feb.18 ) . Vatican Newsshared details of the announcementthe same day .
The program line noted that Pope Francis , 88 , was hospitalized on Friday ( Feb. 14 ) after experience bronchitis symptoms for several days . Tuesday ’s assertion depict the pope ’s condition as still being " a complex picture . "
Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience in The Vatican, on February 12, 2025.
It added that he has a " polymicrobial infection , " meaning an contagion repulse by multiple source . The infection arose in the circumstance of one chronic and one piercing lung stipulation , severally calledbronchiectasisand asthmatic bronchitis . The statement tot that the Alexander Pope remained " in sound disembodied spirit " and was spending his meter alternating " between eternal sleep , prayer and reading . "
On Saturday , Francis experience an asthma - like respiratory crisis of " prolonged intensity,“Vatican Newswrote in a statement . His blood tests revealed a low-spirited thrombocyte tally , which call for blood transfusion , and on Sunday theHoly See Press Office revealedthat he was also showing early signs of modest kidney failure . However , they added that it is " presently under control . "
As of Monday ( Feb. 24 ) , while his experimental condition remains critical , the pope is reportedly " alert and well - oriented . "
What is double pneumonia?
Pneumonia is typically triggered by bacterium , viruses or fungi infect the lungs and the body reacting to that infection . This causesinflammation , swelling and smooth aggregation in the low sacs of the lungs , called alveoli .
There are many unlike microorganisms that can make the condition , including those responsible for the common cold , the flu and COVID-19 . ( Pneumonia can also sometimes get up when food or drink are inhaled into the lungs , get " aspiration pneumonia . " ) Bacterial pneumonia is more vulgar and usually more dangerous than viral pneumonia , which is more potential to have mild symptoms that resolve on their own , according to non-profit-making medical centerCleveland Clinic .
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Common symptoms of pneumonia let in chest pain , trouble breathing , fever , chills , nausea , vomiting and persistent cough . If the condition becomes severe , it canlead to life - threaten complications , including heart price , expiry of lung tissue , respiratory failure , or acute respiratory distress , which prevents the lung from properly filling with air .
Notably , the pope has a polymicrobial infection , which means it is stimulate by multiple dissimilar microorganisms , and as such may need more complex treatment .
Double , or bilaterally symmetrical , pneumonia means that the contagion has affected both of the pope ’s lung . He is now being treated with antibiotic , which fight bacterial infections , and corticosteroids , which help suppress inflammation , according to Tuesday ’s statement .
Severe pneumonia is also often treat with oxygen therapy or a ventilator , but the program line did not note if the Holy Father has receive such external respiration support .
Who is at risk of pneumonia?
Anyone can arise pneumonia , but some groups of mass face a eminent risk of the condition .
Those who aremost at riskinclude honest-to-god adults and immature shaver ; those with a chronic lung or gist condition ; those with a neurological condition that strike swallowing ; hospital patient or individuals living in caution facilities ; smokers ; pregnant people ; and those with weakened immune system .
According to theNational Center for Health Statistics , part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) , more than 41,000 people drop dead from pneumonia in the U.S. in 2023 and 1.4 million emergency brake department visit were primarily due to pneumonia in 2021 .
Most people with pneumonia are treated with antibiotics and will recuperate after two to four weeks , fit in to theU.K. National Health Service ( NHS ) website , but adult over 65 are more probable to take hospital treatment and experience more severe illness .
What is bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis and bronchiectasis?
Pope Francis was particularly at risk of developing pneumonia because he already had several conditions affecting his lungs , such as bronchiectasis .
Bronchiectasis is a long - term condition where the bronchi — the major airways of the lungs that branch off the windpipe — widen , leading to more mucous secretion than usual to progress up in these airways . This can put the lungs at heavy risk of exposure of subsequent infections . Bronchiectasis can be due to harm to the tissue and muscles environ the bronchi , which might have happened due to a former lung infection , for illustration .
Symptoms of bronchiectasis motley widely from person to person , but usually include shortness of hint and a persistent cough that brings up phlegm , harmonize to the NHS website .
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The Holy See financial statement also remark the pope had wheezing bronchitis . This is a condition in which an individual has both asthma and penetrative bronchitis , causing symptoms such as pectus tightness , wheezing , difficulty external respiration and febrility .
Bronchitis , broadly , is a disorder where the bronchi become inflame . It is more common in citizenry with asthma because asthma constricts these airline and also make them hypersensitive to irritants . This can take to bacterium or virus getting snare and get harm .
Pope Francis may also be particularly prone to lung trouble because , as a untried man , he developed a consideration promise pleurisy and had part of one of his lungs remove , age 21 . Pleurisy is a condition characterized by inflammation of the facing of the lung and chest dental caries , which can make incisive chest of drawers pains , especially when breathing in , coughing , sneeze or moving . The conditioncan be causedby autoimmune diseases or cancer , as well as issue after trauma to the chest of drawers or rake clot in the lungs . Usually , though , it is get by infections . Sometimes , pleurisy is a polarity of pneumonia . It may also cause wrong to the lungs that increase the risk of other respiratory malady , such as bronchitis .
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