VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis, who has been in hospital with double pneumonia for a week, has had a good night, got up this morning and had breakfast, the Vatican said on Friday.
The 88-year-old pontiff is being treated at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on February 14 after struggling with breathing difficulties for several days.
Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs, making it difficult to breathe.
On Thursday, the Vatican said for the second day in a row that Francis’ condition was slightly improving, adding that “hemodynamic parameters continue to be stable.”
Hemodynamic parameters refer to the body’s ability to regulate the flow of blood through its organs and tissues.
The Vatican had said previously that the pope had a polymicrobial infection, which occurs when two or more micro-organisms are involved, adding that he would stay in hospital as long as necessary to tackle a “complex clinical situation”.
A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorised to speak about the pope’s condition, said that Francis was not on a ventilator and was breathing on his own.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, Writing by Giselda Vagnoni, Editing by Alvise Armellini)
