Italy PM Meloni visits Pope Francis in hospital, says he was alert and responsive

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Pope Francis in hospital on Wednesday, a day after he was diagnosed with double pneumonia, saying that she had found him alert and responsive.

"We joked as always. He hasn't lost his proverbial sense of humour," Meloni said in a statement.

Francis, who is spending his sixth day in hospital for treatment of a respiratory infection, is alert and ate breakfast on Wednesday, the Vatican said in its latest update on the pontiff's fragile health.

Francis has the onset of double pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday, complicating treatment for the 88-year-old pope who was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs and makes breathing more difficult.

The Vatican had said previously that the pope had a polymicrobial infection, which occurs when two or more micro-organisms are involved, adding that he would stay in hospital as long as necessary to tackle a "complex clinical situation".

A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorised to speak about the pope's condition, said on Wednesday Francis was not on a ventilator and was breathing on his own.

The official said the pope had been able to get out of bed and sit in an armchair in his hospital room, and was continuing to do some work.