Pope Francis has bilateral pneumonia
Pope Francis, who continued to receive the hospital, has bilateral pneumonia, said the Vatican on Tuesday.
The term only means pneumonia in both lungs, said Dr. James Musser, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the Houston Methodist Research Institute. He added that without an examination of a patient he could not say anything special about his condition.
In general, pneumonia is an infection of the small respiratory tract of the lungs. When the body installs an inflammatory reaction, small pockets in the lungs fill up with immune cells; The symptoms can include fever, coughing and shaking. In order to diagnose the disease, a doctor usually calls on the patient to say a long “E” as if the person was singing. Due to a stethoscope, the “e” of pneumonia sounds like an “A”, said Dr. Paul Pottinger, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Washington.
Most people with pneumonia relax at home and do not have to be hospitalized. However, pneumonia can be a “fatal situation” for older people, according to experts in infectious diseases.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of California in San Francisco, added that “the mortality rate increases after the age of 85.” The Pope is 88 and a part of a lung is missing after the lung operation in 1957.
The most likely cause of pneumonia is an infection that according to Dr. Chin hong is caused by a bacterium, streptococcus pneumoniae. “No. 1, 2 and 3 cause of the pneumonia is a strep -lung inflammation,” he said.
The disease can react to antibiotics, but bacteria can sometimes go out of the lungs and the rest of the body, which leads to sepsis, a dangerous situation. A vaccine can help to alleviate this risk of seps risk, but do not prevent the condition, said Dr. Chin-Hong.
Dr. Pottinger noticed that although the Strep’s infection can contain both lungs, but is usually limited to a lung lobe. Most bilateral pneumonia, he said, is caused by viruses, including influenza or other bacteria. Other causes are respiratory -syncytial virus or RSV, Legionella, Mycoplasma and Chlamydia, said Dr. Pottinger.
He agreed Dr. Chin-Hong about the likely gravity of the state of the Pope.
“It is a very scary situation,” said Dr. Pottinger.
