World

Yeltsin Still Hospitalized

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 9, 1999 / 9:38 AM EDT / CBS

President Boris Yeltsin received treatment for the flu and his temperature was returning to normal Sunday as he recuperated at a Moscow hospital, the Kremlin said.

Yeltsin, who was hospitalized Saturday, has been plagued by recurrent health problems in recent years, and each new illness prompts renewed speculation about his fitness to lead Russia.

Yeltsin was receiving treatment for his flu, and his temperature was falling, presidential spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin told the Interfax news agency.

He did not provide details on Yeltsin's treatment or say when the president might be released from the Central Clinical Hospital.

On Sunday evening, the president met with his chief-of-staff Alexander Voloshin at the hospital, Yakushkin said.

Some of Russian President Boris Yeltsin's recent health problems:

Sept. 1991 Heart trouble forces Yeltsin to stop work for two days and later to recuperate for two weeks by the Black Sea.

July 11, 1995 Hospitalized for two weeks with acute heart trouble, he then recuperates for two weeks at a government sanitarium.

Oct. 26, 1995 Hospitalized for nearly a month with heart problems, he then spends another month recuperating at a government rest home.

June 1996 Yeltsin disappears from public view for the final week before the presidential election. Aides cite a sore throat, his wife blames a cold, but his doctor later acknowledges it was a heart attack.

Nov. 5, 1996 Yeltsin undergoes quintuple heart bypass surgery at the Moscow Cardiological Center.

Jan. 8, 1997 Hospitalized for a 12-day treatment of what doctors describe as "double pneumonia," he then spends a month recuperating at his country residence.

March 13, 1998 He suffers from what is described as acute laryngitis, an inflammation of the larynx and trachea resulting in a bad cough and hoarse voice. Doctors advise him to stay in bed.

Oct. 12, 1998 Yeltsin cuts short trip to Kazakhstan because of bronchitis.

Oct. 26, 1998 He cancels a trip to Austria because of what is described as unstable blood pressure and extreme fatigue. The next day he checks into the Barvikha sanitarium outside Moscow.

Nov. 22, 1998 Yeltsin is rushed to the hospital with pneumonia and a fever. A week later, a presidential spokesman acknowledges that he suffered "several" heart attacks during the 1996 election campaign.

Jan. 17, 1999 He is hospitalized for almost two weeks with a bleeding ulcer.

Feb. 27 Yeltsin returns to the hospital, where an examination shows further treatment for the ulcer is necessary.

Oct. 9 He is hospitalized for what his spokesman says is the flu and a fever.

Doctors said Saturday that Yeltsin had a high temperature as a result of the flu, but Yakshkin described the illness as "minor."

Citing sources, Interfax said Yeltsin had not given any additional powers to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and this was seen as a sign that the illness was not serious.

Yeltsin, 68, has had health problems for years, including heart trouble that led to multiple bypass surgery in 1996 and recurring bouts of pneumonia and respiratory infections. He has also suffered from back pain and a recurring ulcer in the past year.

The president's health had appeared to improve in recent months and he had been fairly active. He was last hospitalized in February for what doctors said was a bleeding ulcer.

Even when healthy, Yeltsin rarely spends a full day at the Kremlin. Typically, he visits his office only a few days a week, for only a few hours at a time.

The president spends most of his days at a country residence in the woods west of Moscow, and rarely travels outside the capital.

The president held meetings in the Kremlin at the beginning of last week, but then disappeared from view for several days.

He has said little about the current fighting between Russian forces and militants in the breakaway republic of Chechnya, the financial scandals swirling around his administration or the economic turmoil that has plagued Russia.

Russians have become accustomed to Yeltsin's recurrent health problems, and when he is hospitalized, it no longer provokes a strong public reaction.

Yeltsin insists he is fit enough to serve out his term, which ends in the middle of next year. However, opposition leaders repeatedly have called on him to step down because of his health problems.