Pope Francis, who remains hospitalized, has bilateral pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
The term merely means pneumonia in both lungs, said Dr. James Musser, director of the Houston Research Institute at Houston Research. He added that, without examining a patient, he could not say anything specific about his condition.
In general, pneumonia is an infection of small lung air ducts. As the body places an inflammatory response, the small pockets in the lungs are filled with immune cells. Symptoms may include fever, cough and shaking. To diagnose the disease, a doctor usually asks the patient to say a long “e” as if singing the person. Through a stethoscope, “E” of a weak pneumonia sounds like “A”, said Dr. Paul Pottinger, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Washington.
Most people with pneumonia recover well at home and do not have to be hospitalized. But for the elderly, pneumonia can be “a deadly condition”, the experts of infectious diseases said.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medical and infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco, added that “the mortality rate is increasing after the age of 85.” The Pope is 88 and lacks part of a lung after pulmonary surgery in 1957.
The most likely cause of pneumonia is an infection caused by a bacterium, Streptococcus pneumoniae, according to Dr. Chin-Hong. “The cause of pneumonia No. 1, 2 and 3 is a torsional pneumonia,” he said.
The disease can respond to antibiotics, but bacteria can sometimes be thrown away by the lungs and the rest of the body, resulting in rotting a dangerous condition. A vaccine can help to mitigate this risk of rot, but does not prevent the situation, Dr. Chin-Hong said.
Dr. Pottinger noted that, although the pneumonia may include both lungs, it is usually limited to a lobe of a lung. Most bilateral pneumonia, he said, is caused by viruses, including influenza or other bacteria. Other causes include respiratory conventional virus or RSV, Legionella, Mycoplasma and Chlamydia, Dr. Pottinger said.
He agreed with Dr. Chin-Hong on the possible weight of the Pope’s situation.
“It’s a very frightening situation,” said Dr. Pottinger.
