Arroyo rushed to hospital with flu

MANILA: Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was rushed to hospital on Thursday with influenza but was expected to make a full recovery, her aides and doctor said.

Doctor Joven Cuanan at Manila's St. Lukes Hospital said Arroyo was "barking orders" from her bed after being admitted at around 5 p.m. (0900 GMT) with fever and flu, her second admission in as many months.

The 59-year-old was hospitalised in June with an attack of diarrhoea but an aide said there was no connection between the two ailments.

"She is very much lucid, very much in control of her faculties," Arthur Yap, chief of the presidential management staff, told the ANC news channel.

Arroyo is not known to have any serious medical conditions.

Cuanan told reporters he had recommended two days of bed rest for Arroyo, who was initially given intravenous fluids to reduce her fever.