Former President Bill Clinton was admitted to the hospital Tuesday with an infection, according to a spokesman, but is recovering and is expected to be discharged soon.
Bill Clinton admitted to hospital with blood infection known as sepsis
Dr. Imran Ali, a physician at Mt.
Sinai Health, told ABC World News Now that his sources said Clinton “was feeling quite fatigued at a private event in California, and he went to the hospital and they did a routine checkup in the emergency department and identified an infection in his blood.”
That’s usually done through a blood culture, he said, adding that Clinton “probably had a urinary tract infection that caused the infection to pass into the blood, and it’s something we call sepsis, which is when an infection gets into the bloodstream.”
In some cases, Ali said sepsis can be severe, but in other cases it can be easily controlled with intravenous antibiotics.
He said it can be more serious for older adults, especially people with a history of heart disease.
Clinton has had several health problems over the past two decades, although most are related to heart problems.
He underwent quadruple bypass surgery in September 2004 and had two coronary stents placed in February 2010.
He also underwent surgery for a collapsed lung in 2005.
Ali said the former president suffered a mild case of sepsis and had no problems with his blood pressure.
“From what I have heard, my sources are that all he needed was some intravenous fluids to help with his blood pressure, but his blood pressure was not dangerously low enough to be a serious concern,” Ali said.
Ali said that since Clinton is supposed to be transitioning to antibiotics, he will likely be discharged soon.
