Pope Francis is not out of danger, according to his doctors

Dr. Sergio Alfieri, director of the Medical-Surgical Department of the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital, where Pope Francis has been admitted since Friday, said that “it is not out of danger.”

“The Pope knows that he is in danger and has asked us to transmit it,” said the doctor in an impromptu press conference when the first week of hospitalization of the Holy Father is celebrated.

However, he clarified that, despite the seriousness of the situation, the answer to whether is in danger of death is negative: “If the question is whether at this time he is in danger of death, the answer is not anyway “, said.

“Right now his life is not in danger, but this is the realistic situation. The door is open to both possibilities, “he added later by commenting that he is an 88 -year -old patient, with polymicrobiological infection to which bilateral pneumonia joined.

On his medical conditions, he highlighted his excellent heart condition, although he assured that “he suffers from chronic asthmatic bronchitis,” from which he will no longer recover.

“Even if it recovers, asthmatic bronchitis and bronchiectasis remain. Chronic disease will remain,” he said. He also reported that he is not connected to any breath or intubated machine. Only sometimes a mask is placed when he has difficulty breathing.

Hospitalized at least all next week

He also said that he will continue in the hospital at least every week until he is completely cured of his bilateral pneumonia and can continue the treatment in his residence in Santa Marta.

However, it is not hidden that “time will be needed.”

On the other hand, he said that although he is a “fragile patient”, he does not present “other pathologies” and also “is responding well to treatment.”

He also revealed that the last tests performed revealed a polymicrobial infection, which involves “viruses, fungi and bacteria.”

Anyway, it made it clear that the “real risk is that germs go to the blood,” he explained, noting that the infection is currently located in the lungs and not in the bloodstream.

Alfieri also explained that, unlike the initial diagnoses, the tests performed on Tuesday revealed bilateral pneumonia, which has led to an adjustment in the treatment.

He detailed specifically medical issues such as the application of therapies and their influence on the body. Thus he said that the administration of cortisone medicines, “help the Pope’s breathing but, in turn, lower their defenses and raise their blood glucose levels, which requires delicate care and constant adjustment.”

Alfieri appeared before the international press together with Dr. Luigi Carbone, deputy director of the Department of Health and Health of the State of the Vatican City and a reference doctor of the Holy Father.

During his speech, Carbone also narrated how it was decided to proceed to the hospitalization of Pope Francis last Friday “as many older people” do with respiratory infections. “When it is no longer possible to cure these diseases at home, he goes to the hospital,” he said.

However, Alfieridastacated that the big difference with other elderly people is that they are generally “stay at home in an armchair or in a rocking chair and Pope Francis does not.”

In any case, he assured that, despite his advanced age and the disease, the Pontiff continues to show great vitality and is in a good mood.

“Before he got up and gone to the chapel to pray,” he said. In addition, he told some of the jokes he usually does as this morning: “When greeting him with a ‘good morning, Holy Father’, he replied, ‘Good morning, holy son’.”

The doctor also emphasized the will of Pope Francis to maintain transparency: “He always wanted us to tell the truth, not hide anything.”