Pope Francis, improving in hospital, alert and working: Vatican

VATICAN CITY, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Pope Francis is showing improvement, is alert and doing some work, the Vatican said on Friday, as the 88-year-old pontiff began his eighth day in hospital battling pneumonia.

Francis is being treated at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on February 14 after struggling with breathing difficulties for several days.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a brief update on Friday that Francis had slept well overnight and was able to eat breakfast.

A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorised to speak about the pope's condition, said that Francis was breathing on his own, without help of any machines.

The pope was able to move around his hospital room, was taking some phone calls and was continuing to do some paperwork, the official said.

Their comments came after the Vatican said on Thursday evening that the pope's condition was "slightly improving" for the second day in a row.

The Vatican also said that Francis' hemodynamic parameters, a measure of the functioning of his body's circulatory system, were "stable".