Pope Francis well slept during a first night in the Hospital after being admitted With a respiratory tract infection, the Vatican said on Saturday.
The 88-year-old pontiff had breakfast on Saturday morning and read the newspapers while continuing his drug therapy, said spokesperson Matteo Bruni.
Friday, the Argentinian Pope was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome after a week of bronchitis.
Francis, who is subject to respiratory infections in winter, received a diagnosis of bronchitis on February 6.
Simone Risoluti / Getty images
Before his hospitalization, Francis had continued to hold a daily audience in his hotel suite of the Vatican, attended his general audience on Wednesday and even presided over an outdoor mass last Sunday. However, he had transmitted his speeches to an assistant to read aloud, saying that he had trouble breathing.
It’s the pope Fourth hospitalization Since his 2013 elections and has raised questions about his increasingly precarious health.
Preliminary tests have shown that it had a respiratory tract infection and a slight fever. The Vatican canceled its audience until at least Monday.
Gregorio Borgia / AP
Francis had a part of a lung withdrawn as a young man and fought against other health problems.
He had 13 inches from his large intestine removed in 2021 due to a narrowing of the colon. He underwent abdominal surgery in 2023 at Remove the intestinal scar fabric and repair a hernia. He uses a wheelchair, a walker or a cane by moving to his apartment and recently fell twice, injuring his arm and his chin.
He revealed that during hospitalization in 2023, he was in fact diagnosed with “acute and strong pneumonia, in the lower part of the lungs”.
Sometimes bronchitis can cause pneumonia, a deeper and much more serious infection of the air bags of the lungs. Doctors can detect pneumonia by listening to a cracking or whistling noise in the lungs while the patient breathes, but often other tests are necessary, including pulmonary radiography and pulse oximetry which measures the amount of oxygen in the blood. Treatment varies depending on severity but can include the supply of oxygen through a tube or a nasal mask, intravenous liquids – and the treatment of the underlying cause of the infection.
