Pope Francis It has a complex infection in its respiratory system and will require more purposeful drug treatment, Vatican authorities reports on Monday. On Tuesday it passed CT for the chest that showed the beginning Two -sided pneumoniaDemanding additional medical therapy, the Vatican press service said.
88-year-old pope was hospitalized From Friday at the Hemel Hospital in Rome after coming with bronchitis a week before, and officials said he was suffering from “Polymicrobial respiratory tract infection”.
Here is a view of the Pope's diagnosis and what can include his treatment.
What is bilateral pneumonia?
Two -sided or double pneumonia – this is when you have pneumonia in both lungs. Pneumonia It is an infection that sets the air bags of the lungs, which can cause them to fill the fluid. Symptoms include cough, fever, chills and breathing problems.
Pneumonia can range from mild to life -threatening. This is the most serious for babies and people over the age of 65, as well as people with heart problems or weakened immune systems.
This development probably caused anxiety, given the Pope's medical condition.
“Despite the fact that we can treat pneumonia with antibiotics, pneumonia is also one of the leading causes of death,” said Saller from Yale University. He said that antibiotics do not work in isolation, and that the human immune system is also crucial to the fight against pneumonia, showing that the immune system in the elderly is usually not so stable.
“If you are 88, the Pope's age, suddenly you have risk factors that make the situation tougher than just ordinary pneumonia.”
What is the Polymicrobial Infection of the respiratory tract?
Essentially, this means that there is a mixture of bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites in whose lungs.
“Often people get bronchitis or respiratory tract infection, and this can often start a cascade of many problems, including the infection in the lungs,” said Dr. Moore Saller, who specializes in pulmonary and critical medical assistance at the Yale University School at the University of Medicine University . He said such problems were common in the elderly whose immune system may be weaker or has complex health problems.
“This probably means that it has more than one body in the lungs,” said Saller, explaining that the Pope's doctor may have to adjust his treatment to make sure that antibiotics attack all different organisms.
Pneumonia It is a diagnosis of inflammation or fluid in the lungs, which can cause viral, bacterial or fungal infection. “Bilateral” pneumonia means that the infection developed in both lungs.
How serious is the polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract?
For someone with the history of the Pope – he lost part of the right light decades ago and had previously had pneumonia – he was worried that he was hospitalized.
Dr. Nick Hopkinson, Medical Director of asthma + UK, said most healthy people are probably quickly recovering from bronchitis.
But in people whose lungs are already damaged, “bacteria can come and colonize the respiratory tract … And you begin to see infections that make it difficult.” In people with the lungs that were previously broken, they may need to help breathing, including oxygen supports or physiotherapy in the chest to help them cleanse the fluid, enlargement in their lungs.
However, Hopkinson said receiving the Pope on the right medication should help.
“If they have identified certain things for treatment, they can treat them and it will start recovering.”
How much can it take?
It depends. Antibiotic treatment usually takes from a few days to about two weeks. Hopkinson said the Pope could be provided with various medicines, including those who usually take asthma or conditions such as chronic obstructive lung disease, except for physiotherapy to help keep the breasts as clear as possible.
“Some infections require prolonged treatment because they are simply more difficult to clean from the system,” Hopkinson said. “They seem to have determined the mistakes that are responsible and they will be able to treat them … But we will only need to wait and see.”
Dr. Peter Opensh, an expert of the lung at the Imperial College in London, said the presence of several organisms is not unusual in people with a complex medical history, but it may be difficult to manage.
Which doctors will control further?
Saler said that the biggest thing to watch in the coming days is any sign that the pope is deteriorating.
“I would be more interested to make sure he won't get worse despite all efforts (his doctors). It's usually a bad prognostic sign,” he said, adding that they would probably reconsider his condition in a few days to learn , whether or not the assigned drugs work.
“I have optimism and I hope he will be able to go with the right antibiotic.”
What are the other Pope's health problems?
Pope Francis in recent years was treated for a number of health problems, including two abdomen operation and several previous respiratory infectionsincluding the one that hospitalized It is a few days before the 2023 holiday. Trouble in the knee He led him to reduce travel and he often uses a wheelchair.
He said in 2022: “I think that at my age and with these restrictions I have to save (my energy) to be able to serve the church, or, on the contrary, think about the opportunity to move away.”
But in rare interview With CBS News' Norah O'Donnell in 2024, Dad described your health as “wonderful” And he said he did not plan to leave the papacy.
“Perhaps when the day comes when my health cannot go on,” Francis said. “Perhaps because the only infirmitory I have is in the knee, and it becomes much better. But I never came to mind.”