Lugo hospitalized in Asuncion for allergic reaction

Asuncion, Agency
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, in treatment for lymphatic cancer that was detected last August, has been hospitalized for an allergic reaction, medical officials said.

Lugo was admitted just after 5:00 p.m. Thursday to the private Migone clinic in Asuncion "as a precaution," and this Friday his general condition will be evaluated, Dr. Alfredo Boccia, one of the doctors attending the head of state, said.

The president entered the medical center with a case of oral inflammation after completing his official schedule for the day at the presidential residence. He is now doing well, according to Boccia, and his case of allergy is not serious.

"This morning he received a small injection of local anesthetic for a minor dental matter and apparently that was what caused the allergic reaction," the doctor said.

Lugo, 59, suffered the problem six days after undergoing at the Sirio-Libanes Hospital in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo the third of six chemotherapy sessions that doctors prescribed for his illness.

"Given that his immunity is very low at this time, the president was submitted to a series of examinations, including microorganism cultures, tomography and blood-sample analysis to check for any incipient infection," Boccia told a press conference.

"He has been seen by specialists, but as a precaution he will spend the night at the clinic and we'll see tomorrow, depending on how he is in the morning, whether to release him around noon," he said.

The doctor also said that they have not yet received all the results of the examinations the president underwent, but added that the tomography from the cranium to the abdomen done on Thursday revealed nothing out of the ordinary.

"His immune defenses are moderately low. His white blood cell count is 3,200, which is lower than normal but still above risk levels," Boccia said.

"He feels fine, he's watching what is going on in Ecuador," the doctor said, referring to the situation facing that country after police there rebelled against the government of President Rafael Correa.

The president's doctors said last Monday that the examinations Lugo underwent in Sao Paulo showed a reduction of the carcinogenic cysts that were detected early last August.

The head of state was given the first treatment at the Sirio-Libanes Hospital on Aug. 12 after confirmation that he was suffering from lymphoma of low malignancy in three parts of the body: in the groin, the thorax and the third vertebra.

Lugo, who on Aug. 15 had been in office for two years, still has three more chemotherapy sessions to go and will complete his treatment by next December, according to his doctors.