Pope Francis had two acute respiratory crises on Monday, Vatican said, taking care of further concern about the health of the 88-year-old Pontiph, who had been hospitalized in Rome in severe condition for more than two weeks.
The Pope was subjected to the treatment of double pneumonia and complex infections in the hospital in Rome, and his condition alternated between improvement and failure. On Friday, Francis suffered a bronchial spasm that made him inhale vomiting after coughing.
The Vatican said that episodes on Monday were caused by a significant accumulation of mucus in its bronchial pipes as a result of pneumonia. The doctors examined the interior of the pope’s lungs, then sucking in the abundant secretions of the mucus from his respiratory tract, the Vatican said.
The Vatican said in a statement that “the Holy Father remained consistently awake, oriented and associate.”
The Pope medical forecast remained guarded, implying that he was not in danger because he spent the 18th day at Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
Jeffrey Millstein, a professor of internal medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman, said such bronchial spasms are common in older people who do not always have muscle strength to expel mucus accumulation.
“It sounds like he’s struggling with typical things that older, weaker people fight when they have pneumonia,” he said.
Pope Francis was admitted to a hospital with bronchitis on February 14, and later diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs. This caused special concern given his age and the fact that Francis, as a young man, had been removed.
The Pope continued to do light jobs during the hospital stay, including signing to the appointment of the bishop and moved five people on the way to Canonization as a saints, according to the daily newsletter on the Vatican website. On Monday morning, the Vatican said he was resting well.
Francis’s hospitalization has caused concern about what is happening if his health does not improve and encourage guesses about the possibility of his resignation. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, State Secretary of the Vatican, rejected such a conversation as “useless speculations.”
But the news of the latest health crisis of the pope only intensified the concern of many believers.
“As a doctor, I’m really worried,” said Gianluigi Radica (60), a general practitioner from Bergamo, a city in northern Italy, while walking with his family on St. Peter’s Square. They came to the Vatican city because of the anniversary, the Holy Year for Roman Catholics, Mr. Radica said.
“We really feel the absence of the Pope,” he said.
Gina Kolata contribute to reporting.
