8 hours ago
Last Updated:February 23, 2025, 00:05 IST
Pope Francis Health: Pope Francis received blood transfusions after tests showed a condition associated with anemia, the Vatican said.
Pope Francis Health: Pope Francis looks on during the Jubilee audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
Pope Francis is in critical condition after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen, the Vatican said. Pope Francis has been hospitalized for a week with a complex lung infection. The 88-year-old also received blood transfusions after tests showed a condition associated with anemia, the Vatican said.
“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.
Earlier, doctors said that Pope Francis was battling a pneumonia and a complex respiratory infection which will keep him hospitalized for at least another week.
Doctors have warned that the main threat facing Pope Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia although there was no evidence of any sepsis yet.
Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalised, said, “Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and his age, would be really difficult to get out of. The English say ‘knock on wood,’ we say ‘touch iron.’ Everyone touch what they wan. But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to the bloodstream."
Dr. Luigi Carbone, his personal physician said, “He is not out of danger. So like all fragile patients I say they are always on the golden scale: In other words, it takes very little to become unbalanced."
The Vatican carried on with its Holy Year celebrations without Pope Francis.
Location :Rome, Italy
First Published:February 22, 2025, 23:58 IST
News world Vatican Says Pope Francis Is In Critical Condition: 'Remains Alert But Is In More Pain'
