Washington – US ex-president George HW Bush, 92, was moved into the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital for an “acute respiratory problem” due to pneumonia, his office said on Wednesday.
Bush, president from 1989-93, was “stable and resting comfortably” after undergoing a procedure to clear his airway that required sedation, according to a statement.
His wife, Barbara Bush, 91, was admitted Wednesday morning to the same Houston Methodist Hospital as a “precaution” due to fatigue and coughing.
Bush’s office had initially said he was doing well after being hospitalised, before doctors performed the airway procedure and moved him to intensive care.
Bush, father to another former US president, George W Bush (2001-09), was vice president from 1981-89 under president Ronald Reagan, and was elected as his successor.
President Barack Obama, giving his final press conference before leaving office Friday, said he was praying for the Bush family
