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Pneumonia
Pope Francis is making his first public appearance in five weeks before being discharged Sunday from the hospital where he survived a severe case of pneumonia that twice threatened his life and raised the prospect of a papal resignation or funeral. The 88-year-old pontiff plans to offer a Sunday blessing from the 10th-floor papal suite at Rome's Gemelli hospital. After saying goodbye to hospital staff, he is to return to the Vatican to begin at least two months of rest, rehabilitation and convalescence during which time doctors have said he should refrain from meeting in big groups or exerting himself. But Francis' personal doctor, Dr Luigi Carbone, told a hastily arranged press conference Saturday evening that the pope eventually should be able to resume all his normal activities as long as he maintains the slow and steady progress he has registered to date. His return home, after the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy and the second-longest in recent papal history, ...
The recovery of Pope Francis from double pneumonia continued Wednesday as he inched toward notching some important milestones in his papacy: The 12th anniversary Thursday of his election as pope and a near-record in hospital stays for a pontiff. The Vatican said Wednesday that Francis had a quiet night at Rome's Gemelli hospital. If the last few days are any guide, the 88-year-old Argentine will likely follow the Vatican's spiritual retreat remotely while his physical and respiratory therapy continues. The pope's weekly Wednesday general audience was cancelled anyway, since the entire Vatican hierarchy is on retreat this week as part of the Lenten spiritual exercises that have been a mainstay of the Jesuit pope's pontificate. Doctors have said Francis is making slow, gradual improvements and this week declared that he's no longer in imminent danger of death as a result of the complex respiratory infection he had when he was admitted on February 14. But they remain cautious, given
Pope Francis is responding well to therapy for double pneumonia and has shown a gradual, slight improvement in recent days, the Vatican said Saturday. But as a precaution his doctors have decided to keep his prognosis as guarded. Francis has remained stable, with no fever and good oxygen levels in his blood, doctors reported in a Vatican statement. The statement said the doctors decided to keep his prognosis guarded, meaning he isn't out of danger. Francis worked and rested during the day Saturday, the Vatican said.
Twelve persons, including four children below the age of 12, have died in Lakhpat taluka in Gujarat's Kutch district days after the region was battered by heavy rains, with officials on Sunday saying the cause of death primarily appears to be pneumonitis. Some local district panchayat members, however, said doctors had not been able to accurately diagnose the fever, which was also causing difficulty in breathing. Medical services in the taluka, which is located near the border with Pakistan, have been intensified with the deployment of 22 surveillance teams, doctors and obtaining samples from residents to rule to possibility of H1N1, swine flu, Crimean-Congo fever, malaria and dengue, Kutch Collector Amit Arora said. "Primarily, the deaths appear to have been caused by pneumonitis. It does not appear to be from contamination nor does it seem like a communicable disease. Twenty-two health department teams are working in the affected areas, including those brought on deputation from .
The Jharkhand government has put its hospitals on alert, asking them for surveillance, preventive measures and testing of respiratory illness cases in the backdrop of a mysterious pneumonia outbreak in China, officials said on Saturday. In a letter to the district administrations, Additional Chief Secretary for Health Arun Kumar Singh directed them to remain prepared and keep a constant vigil on the situation. "In view of the recently reported surge in respiratory illness, especially in children in Northern China, in the recent weeks, this is to bring to your kind notice that there is an urgent need to keep a constant vigil, monitor trends of cases and quickly respond to any emerging public health," Singh said in the letter. In view of the ongoing influenza, there might be an increase in respiratory illness cases, he said. "This is predominantly attributed to usual causes like Influenza strain (H1N1/H3N2/H5N1/H9N2 etc.), mycoplasma pneumonia, SARS-CoV-2, etc," Singh said. "In orde
