Pope Francis has a complex respiratory tract infection

By Maria Cheng | Associated Press

London – The Vatican authorities said on Monday that Pope Francis had a complex infection in his respiratory system and would require more targeted drug treatment. The officials said that the 88 -year -old Pope suffered from a “infection of polymicrobial respiratory tract”, but gave no details on the severity of his illness or what would change in his treatment. Here is an overview of the last diagnosis of the Pope and what his treatment could involve.

What is an infection of polymicrobial respiratory tract?

Essentially, this means that there is a mixture of bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites that grow in someone’s lungs.

“Often people will get bronchitis or respiratory tract infection and which can often start a cascade of multiple problems, including lungs in the lungs,” said Dr. Maor Sauler, specializing in pulmonary medicine and intensive care For adults at the school of the University of Yale in Yale of medicine. He said these problems were common in the elderly whose immune systems could be lower or had complex health problems.

“This probably means that he has more than one organism in his lungs,” said Saving, explaining that the Pope’s doctors may have to adjust his treatment to ensure that antibiotics attack all the various organizations.

How serious is it?

For someone with the Pope’s medical history – he lost part of his right lung decades and has already had pneumonia – it is worrying that he was hospitalized.

Dr. Nick Hopkinson, medical director of the British Asthma and Pulmones Foundation, said most healthy people would likely recover from bronchitis quickly.

But in people whose lungs are already damaged, “bacteria can come to colonize the airways … and you start to see infections, which makes it more difficult to treat.” In people with lungs that have previously been compromised, they may need help with breathing, including oxygen support or chest physiotherapy to help them eliminate liquids in their lungs.

However, Hopkinson said that the Pope gets the right medication should help.

“If they have identified special things to deal with, they can treat them and he will start recovering.”

How long could it take?

It depends. Antibiotic treatments usually go from a few days to about two weeks. Hopkinson said the Pope could receive various drugs, including those that people generally take for asthma or affections such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in addition to obtaining physiotherapy to help keep his chest as clear as possible .

“Some infections require prolonged treatment because they are simply more difficult to erase from the system,” said Hopkinson. “It seems that they have identified the bugs that are responsible and they will be able to treat them … but we will just have to wait and see.”

Dr. Peter OpenShaw, a pulmonary expert from the Imperial College of London, said that the presence of several organizations was not unusual in people with complex medical history but could be difficult to manage.

Are there any other problems that doctors may be concerned?

Pneumonia is probably a concern.

“Even if we can treat pneumonia with antibiotics, pneumonia is also one of the main causes of death,” said Saving from Yale University. He said antibiotics do not work in isolation and that a person’s immune system is also essential to combat pneumonia, stressing that immune systems in the elderly are generally not as resilient.

“When you are 88, the age of the Pope, then suddenly, you have risk factors that make the situation more difficult than a simple routine pneumon.”

What will the doctors are monitoring?