“He (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) is showing good improvement. Blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate are normal. They are being maintained without support,” AIIMS director Randeep Guleria said on Wednesday.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s health has improved significantly, said doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Wednesday, while adding that they were hopeful of a “full recovery” soon. Vajpayee is at the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit in the Cardiothoracic and Neurosciences Centre, with AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria heading the five-doctor team treating him. “He has shown significant improvement in the last 48 hours. His kidney function and urine output are nearly normal. The infection is under control and his vitals are being maintained without support,” Dr Guleria said.
Vajpayee was admitted to AIIMS on Monday with a urinary tract infection and chest congestion. On Wednesday, hospital authorities said, “He was started on injectable antibiotics, and slow dialysis to support his renal function. He has shown significant improvement. We hope that he will recover fully in the next few days, and we can send him home.”
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath arrived at the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, becoming the latest in the list of politicians to visit Vajpayee. A source at AIIMS said that Vajpayee had “reduced kidney function”, since he has only one kidney, and the infection had caused “reduced lung function”.
Vajpayee’s health had been deteriorating since his term as Prime Minister (1998-2004), causing him to withdraw from public life. He had undergone a total knee replacement surgery in 2001, and in 2009 he suffered a stroke that left him speech-impaired. He suffers from dementia and has long-term diabetes, doctors said.