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LONDON - British deputy prime minister John Prescott is suffering from pneumonia and has been transferred to a specialist unit, his office said today.
Prescott, 69, was admitted to hospital on Saturday suffering from chest pains and underwent tests for a suspected infection.
"The deputy prime minister is suffering from pneumonia," a spokesman from his office said.
"He has been moved to a high-dependency unit, not because of a deterioration of his condition but so that his condition can be monitored more closely," he said.
Prescott last week returned from an official visit to the east coast of the United States and the Caribbean, where he visited Jamaica and Barbados.
It is the second time in six months that Prescott has been admitted to hospital, having spent part of Christmas Day on a ward last year after being diagnosed with a kidney stone. He also suffers from Type 2 diabetes.
Prescott, who has been deputy prime minister for the past 10 years, is to stand down at the same time as Prime Minister Tony Blair on June 27.
- REUTERS
