WASHINGTON — Former US President Bill Clinton was hospitalized on Tuesday in California with a suspected blood infection, it was reported on Thursday.
Clinton, 75, was in the intensive care unit, primarily to give him privacy, and he was not on a breathing machine, CNN reported quoting doctors treating the former president at University of California Irvine Medical Center, California.
His condition is not related to his previous heart problems or Covid-19, CNN said.
"He is on the mend, in good spirits, and incredibly thankful to the doctors, nurses and staff providing him with excellent care," Clinton spokesman Angel Urena said on Twitter.
Clinton's physicians, Dr. Alpesh Amin and Dr. Lisa Bardack, said in a statement that he was "admitted to the hospital for close monitoring and administered IV antibiotics and fluids."
"He remains at the hospital for continuous monitoring," the doctors' statement added. "After two days of treatment, his white blood cell count is trending down and he is responding to antibiotics well."
Clinton is in good spirits, talking to family and staff, and has been up and walking, according to both his doctors and his staff.
Clinton, who was in California for a private event for his foundation, had been feeling fatigued on Tuesday and was admitted to the hospital after testing, according to his office.
The former president's doctors said urologic infections are very common in older people, and they are easily treated, although they can quickly spread to the bloodstream.
Clinton will be given intravenous antibiotics until Friday, when he will likely be switched to oral antibiotics. His vital measurements are all stable, the doctors said.
The former president had quadruple bypass heart surgery in 2004 and had two stents inserted to open one artery in 2010. But his doctors stressed his hospitalization is not heart or Covid-19 related.
"On Tuesday evening, Clinton was admitted to UCI Medical Center to receive treatment for a non-Covid-related infection," Urena said.
The doctors at UC Irvine are in contact with Clinton's medical team in New York, as well as his cardiologist, and said they thought he would be released home soon.
Clinton served as US president from 1993 until 2001. He was impeached in 1998 for lying to investigators about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He was acquitted at his Senate trial.— Agencies