Doctors say Treating Lung Infections in Elderly Patients is Problematic

June 25,2013

Former South African president Nelson Mandela entered the hospital on June 8 with a lung infection. For a while, his doctors said he was improving. But on Sunday, they said his condition had become critical. Recurring lung infections is a serious medical condition in elderly patients and it raises many issues for doctors as well as families.

South Africans and admirers around the world expressed their feelings for Nelson Mandela, the man identified with transforming South Africa from white minority rule to a multiracial democracy.

In Johannesburg Monday, people called him Madiba explaining, "It's very emotional, and I feel for my children. This is very important for them to feel what an amazing man Madiba was and is to all of us."

Mandela suffered from lung infections during his 27 years in prison under apartheid. The infections he has had over the past few years are commonly called "pneumonia," whether they're caused by a virus or a bacteria.

What makes his condition more serious is that repeated infections can weaken an elderly patient's lungs.

"Those bacteria are often much more aggressive. Often they are more resistant to antibiotics because, over the years, elderly people will have had more exposure to antibiotics and will have selected out resistant and stronger strains," explained Dr. Bohdan Pichurko, who is with the Cleveland Clinic.