Pope experiences another setback with respiratory crises

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis had two acute respiratory crises Monday, the Vatican said, stoking further concerns about the health of the 88-year old pontiff, who has been hospitalized in Rome in serious condition for more than two weeks.

The pope has been undergoing treatment for double pneumonia and a complex infection in a Rome hospital, and his condition has been alternating between improvements and setbacks. On Friday, Francis suffered a bronchial spasm that caused him to inhale his vomit after a coughing fit.

The Vatican said that Monday’s episodes were caused by a significant accumulation of mucus in his bronchial tubes as a consequence of pneumonia. Doctors examined the inside of the pope’s lungs and then suctioned abundant secretions of mucus from his airways, the Vatican said.

The Vatican said in a statement that “The Holy Father has remained consistently alert, oriented, and cooperative.”

The pope’s medical prognosis remained guarded, implying that he was not out of danger as he spent his 18th day at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

Jeffrey Millstein, an internal medicine professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, said that such bronchial spasms are common in older people who don’t always have the muscular strength to expel accumulations of mucus.

“It sounds like he is struggling with the typical things that older, weaker folks struggle with when they have pneumonia,” he said.

Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital with bronchitis Feb. 14 and later was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs.

The pope has continued to do some light work during his stay at the hospital, including by signing off on the appointment of bishops, and has moved five people along the path to canonization as saints, according to the daily bulletin on the Vatican website. On Monday morning the Vatican said he had been resting well.

News of the pope’s latest health crisis heightened the concerns of many faithful.

“As a doctor, I am really worried,” said Gianluigi Radici, 60, a general practitioner from Bergamo, a city in northern Italy, as he walked in St. Peter’s Square with his family. They had come to Vatican City for the Jubilee, a holy year for Roman Catholics, Radici said.

“We really feel the pope’s absence,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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