Barbara Walters is not doing so well this year. She has been hospitalized twice so far. The Denver Post published yesterday that Walters has chickenpox and is hospitalized . This hospitalization comes a week after another trip to the hospital.
“Fitperez published last week that, “The 83-year-old journalist was leaving the Washington, D.C. home of the British Ambassador when she slipped and fell down the stairs, which left a laceration on her forehead that needed immediate medical attention.”
The Denver Post goes on to say that Barbara was lucky enough to survive heart surgery in 2010. Yet she did not escape chickenpox, which she never got as a child. Doctors found she had chickenpox after they noted she had a lingering fever.
Chickenpox is normally considered a childhood disease; however, adults who have been exposed to the virus can also catch it. “Anyone who has never had chickenpox is at risk of getting it if they are exposed to someone with chickenpox or shingles (a reactivation of the chickenpox virus). The elderly run the risk of contracting pneumonia if they come down with chickenpox.”
The free dictionary which is a medical dictionary states, “In the United States, pneumonia is the sixth most common disease leading to death; 2 million Americans develop pneumonia each year, and 40,000-70,000 die from it. Pneumonia is also the most common fatal infection acquired by already hospitalized patients.”
Pneumonia is not viewed as a hereditary condition which is a good thing for Barbara. Biography.com states that brother died from the complications of pneumonia in 1932.
Barbara is not allowed visitors just yet, but she wishes to go home soon. Her fans wish her well.
Comments