Doctor Claudio Birolini stated on Friday night (13) that, despite being stable, the health of the former president (), admitted to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) with bacterial bronchopneumonia in both lungs, is “extremely serious”.
According to the cardiologist, the risk of aspiration pneumonia, caused by the reflux situation that Bolsonaro has faced since , had been reported in reports sent to the minister of the (Supreme Federal Court).
“Aspiration pneumonia can cause a person to develop respiratory failure, and if you don’t intervene, die. We are dealing with an extremely serious situation. At the moment, the issue of President Jair Bolsonaro is stable, but the risk of a potentially deadly event, once again, arises in these circumstances”, declared Birolini.
Bolsonaro must remain hospitalized for at least seven days. “It’s from there,” cardiologist Leandro Echenique told reporters at the DF Star hospital.
Echenique stated that the health of Jair Bolsonaro, who turns 71 on March 21, “has been slowly deteriorating” since the stabbing and worsened after his arrest at the PF Superintendence (Federal Police) and his transfer to Papudinha.
“His own number of hospitalizations reflects this. Previously, it was one hospitalization per year. There was a year when he was admitted twice. We are saying that, since April of last year until now, it is the sixth time that he is here with us in the hospital. The number of complications is increasing moment by moment”, he declared.
Doctor Brasil Caiado also stated that “certain environments are more negative for him, from the point of view of triggering the disease or the complication itself”. The argument is used by Bolsonaro’s defense to ask Moraes to grant house arrest, which has already been denied by the minister.
Bolsonaro’s release from the ICU will depend, according to doctors, on the response to treatment, which can be restarted by adjustments to medication. The former president is taking two antibiotics administered intravenously. He is conscious, can talk and undergoes physiotherapy. There was no need for intubation.
“It really was a more serious pneumonia than the previous two he had in the second half of last year. He will remain in the ICU and we still don’t have a deadline for discharge from the ICU, he will stay as long as necessary to restore his lungs, to restore his health,” said Echenique.
According to him, the former president’s hiccups have already been treated in every possible way and, despite showing partial improvements, the crises return – which can lead to new cases of pneumonia.
“These hiccups end up inducing the vomit reflex. When the hiccups become very intense, he ends up vomiting reflexively. Every time he vomits, even reflexively, this can result in bronchoaspiration, which is the aspiration of the contents of the vomit into the lungs and this causes these aspiration pneumonias.”
The medical bulletin released by DF Star early this Friday afternoon reported that Bolsonaro arrived at the unit with a high fever, a drop in oxygen saturation, sweating and chills.
According to the DF Military Police, he had a sudden illness in the early hours of the morning in his cell in Papudinha and needed to be attended to by the medical team on duty, who understood that it was necessary to immediately transfer him to the hospital.
The former president arrived at the health unit with nasal oxygen support and underwent tomography and laboratory tests. He is being treated with two antibiotics administered through a vein.
Moraes authorized the former first lady to remain as the ex-president’s companion during his hospitalization and allowed visits from his children: the senator and pre-candidate for the Presidency (PL-RJ), Carlos, Jair Renan (PL-SC) and Laura.
On January 1, the former president was discharged after undergoing hernia surgery. At the time, Moraes defended house arrest.
Bolsonaro went after his defeat in the 2022 elections. He was arrested at the PF headquarters on November 22, after trying to violate the electronic ankle bracelet. Before that, he was trapped in his home.
The transfer to Papudinha took place in January. In March, Bolsonaro’s defense made a new request for domicile, which was also denied by Moraes. The minister’s decision was later endorsed by the First Panel of the STF.
In the defense’s assessment, Bolsonaro’s stay in Papudinha is risky for the former president’s health, “either due to the structural limitations inherent to the prison, or due to the dependence on contingent arrangements that are difficult to maintain over time.”
Moraes mentioned “the total adequacy of the prison environment to the medical needs of the prisoner, with absolute respect for their health and human dignity.” He also cited the episode in which Bolsonaro tried to break the electronic ankle bracelet.
