“Jaws” icon Richard Dreyfuss was forced to drop out of the SharkCon in Tampa, Florida, this weekend, after he was diagnosed with viral bronchitis.
Bronchitis is an inflammation of the lining of your bronchial tubes. These tubes carry air to and from your lungs. People who have bronchitis often cough up thickened mucus, which can be discolored. Bronchitis may start suddenly and be short-term (acute) or start gradually and become long-term (chronic), according to the Mayo Clinic.
Acute bronchitis, which often develops from a cold or other respiratory infection, is very common. It is also called a chest cold. Acute bronchitis usually improves within a week to 10 days without lasting effects, although the cough may linger for weeks. Chronic bronchitis, a more serious condition, is a constant irritation or inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tubes, often due to smoking. It is one of the conditions included in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Dreyfuss delivered the news of his diagnosis and exit in a video post shared to the SharkCon Instagram on Saturday.
He said, “Hello, fellow cons. I am very, very sorry to tell you that I’ve been diagnosed with viral…viral…What is it?”.
His wife, Svetlana Erokhin, then clarified off-screen that the “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” star had been infected with viral bronchitis.
“I’ve been told by my doctors I cannot fly, and I would have to fly five hours to get [to SharkCon]. I’m terribly sorry because I had planned to be there and had been looking forward to it. But I’m unable to do so," he added, "I don’t want to get anyone else sick, and I don’t want to get sicker myself. I feel terrible about not showing up, and I feel worse about exposing you to this, apparently, very viral illness.”
Dreyfuss headlined Steven Spielberg’s 1975 horror masterpiece alongside Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw. In “Jaws,” the Oscar-winner played Matt Hooper, a wisecracking oceanologist and shark expert tasked with helping Chief Brody track down the vicious man-eater.
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