Chief justice of Brazil’s top court hospitalized

The chief justice of Brazil’s Supreme Court, Dias Toffoli, was hospitalized Sunday (Aug. 9) at a private hospital in Brasília with allergic pneumonitis.

The justice is reported to have tested negative for COVID-19 and will work normally during his hospitalization.

Pneumonitis

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is a kind of inflammation in and around the small air sacs (alveoli) and the smaller airways (bronchioles) of the lungs caused by a hypersensitive reaction to the inhalation of organic dust or, less frequently, chemical substances.

This hypersensitivity leads to coughing, fever, chills, and shortness of breath hours after contact with the substance.