Michael Schumacher 'now battling pneumonia' as doctors slowly bring him out of his coma following ski crash
Stricken Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has developed pneumonia as doctors try to bring him out of the artificial coma that he has been in since December 29, German media reported today.
Germany's biggest newspaper, Bild, said that Schumacher, 45, developed the lung infection last week at the University Hospital in Grenoble. His spokeswoman Sabine Kehm refused to comment on the report, saying only it was 'speculation, and I do not comment on speculation.'
But Bild, which is known to have close contacts to the inner circle of the seven-time world Formula One champion, said he is being treated with strong antibiotics as his doctors try to ascertain just how dangerous the infection is.
Pneumonia is among the greatest life threatening conditions that can afflict people in Schumacher's position. The lack of a competent swallowing mechanism can make saliva run into the lungs and trigger the potentially lethal respiratory infection.
Andreas Pingel, medical director of the Centre for Spine Surgery and Neuro-Traumatology at the BG Hospital in Frankfurt told Germany's Focus Magazine only last week; 'About 30 to 50 per cent of all patients who lie in a coma as long as Michael Schumacher has, get it.'
Bild said it was not known if the 'recovery phase' - the slow decrease in anaesthetic that has kept Schumacher comatose since his low-speed ski-accident on December 29 in a bid to bring him around - has been interrupted as a result of the infection.
Professor Heinzpeter Moecke, Director of the Institute for Emergency Medicine at the Asklepios Clinic in Hamburg told Bild: 'Pneumonia is generally a serious and dangerous disease because the body is supplied with less oxygen and is overall very weakened.'
In someone like Schumacher, who has now been comatose for 46 days since being airlifted from the ski slopes of the French resort of Meribel after smashing his head on to a rock, his immune system is seriously weakened and the fear is of multiple organ failure and, ultimately, death.
Professor Moecke went on: 'One reason may be that the patient can not cough up secretions, which form in the neck and throat, because of a tube in the windpipe through which he breathes. A healthy person clears his throat or swallowing several times per minute, usually without realizing it. That protects the lungs.
Either an X-ray or clinical signs - such as high fever - led to the discovery of the infection. His lung secretions were analysed to determine the best kind of antibiotics to prescribe to fight it.
Professor Moecke added: 'Often the drug is administered over a seven to ten day period. If it works, there is a significant improvement after three or four days and the patient is out of danger. But there are also bacteria that are resistant to many antibiotics, that extends the period of danger.'
He said the comatose racing hero would feel no pain or shortness of breath because of his coma and the drugs he will be receiving.
So far, there have been no facial or bodily responses to his environment, according to medical sources, as his reflexes are tested on a daily basis. He receives food through a tube to his stomach, oxygen via a hose from a machine next to his bed as he still cannot breathe independently. Three times daily his joints and muscles are massaged to prevent atrophy and bed sores.
The coma suppressed his swallowing reflex, pain perception and his respiratory drive. He has to be acutely monitored around the clock during this wake-up phase to see if such things are returning naturally - if at all.
His blood is also thinned to prevent thrombosis and he is regularly turned and even stood straight up at times to keep blood flowing. He lies on a special air-filled mattress to prevent pressure sores and his urinary tract is under constant vigilance because of the danger of waste bacteria entering the bloodstream and causing another potentially fatal infection.