Former US President Bill Clinton admitted to hospital

Former President Bill Clinton has been admitted to the University of California Irvine Medical Center for a non-Covid-related infection. He is “on the mend” and “in good spirits,” CNN reported Clinton spokesman Angel Urena as saying.

CNBC reported that Clinton’s doctors said in a joint statement that he was admitted to the hospital for “close monitoring” and administered IV antibiotics and fluids.

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“He remains at the hospital for continuous monitoring,” his doctors Alpesh Amin and Lisa Bardack said. “After two days of treatment, his white blood cell count is trending down and he is responding to antibiotics well.”

Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported on CNN, “What they think is going on with the former president now is a blood infection, sometimes known as sepsis… What the doctors have said is that he did have an episode.”

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Bill Clinton had reportedly felt ill throughout the day. According to his spokesperson, the former president, age 75, as responding well to antibiotics, “on the mend,” and in good spirits.

Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had travelled to California for an event benefiting their foundation.

Clinton underwent operations in 2004 and 2010 to repair his heart and insert a stent. The current infection does not appear to be related to his cardiac health, according to CNN.

In the years since Clinton left the White House in 2001, the former president has faced health scares. In 2004, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery after experiencing prolonged chest pains and shortness of breath.

He returned to the hospital for surgery for a partially collapsed lung in 2005, and in 2010 had a pair of stents implanted in a coronary artery.

He responded by embracing a largely vegan diet that saw him lose weight and report improved health.

He repeatedly returned to the stump, campaigning for Democratic candidates, mostly notably his wife, Hillary, during her failed 2008 bid for the presidential nomination. And in 2016, as his wife sought the White House as the Democratic nominee, Clinton — by then a grandfather and nearing 70 — returned to the campaign trail.

The UCI Medical Center is in Orange County, about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Los Angeles. It wasn’t immediately clear why Clinton was in Southern California.