Pope Francis in ‘critical condition’ after suffering severe respiratory crisis – UK Times

Pope Francis is in a critical condition after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen, the Vatican has said.

The 88-year-old pontiff, who has been in hospital for a week with a complex lung infection, also received blood transfusions after tests showed a condition associated with anemia, the Vatican said in a late update on Saturday.

“The Holy Father continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday. At the moment the prognosis is reserved,” the statement said.

Francis’s doctors have said his condition is touch-and-go and that he is by no means out of danger.

They have warned that the main threat facing Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia – and can lead to organ failure and death.

As of Friday, there was no evidence of any sepsis, and Francis was responding to the various drugs he is taking, the pope’s medical team said in their first in-depth update on the pope’s condition.

Francis, who has chronic lung disease, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on 14 February after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.

Doctors first diagnosed the complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection and then the onset of pneumonia in both lungs. They prescribed “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, along with supplemental oxygen when he needs it.

Dr Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, said the biggest threat facing Francis was that some of the germs that are currently located in his respiratory system pass into the bloodstream, causing sepsis.

“Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and his age, would be really difficult to get out of,” Alfieri told a news conference at Gemelli on Friday, adding: “He knows he’s in danger. And he told us to relay that.”

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