George H.W. Bush under intensive care with “stubborn fever”

Former U.S. PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush. (File Photo)

Former U.S. president George H.W. Bush was put under intensive care after a "stubborn" fever which kept him at hospital over the Christmas has gotten worse, local media reported Wednesday.

Bush, 88, who had been hospitalized for about a month with bronchitis, has been in intensive care since Sunday and is now on a liquids-only diet, local TV channel KHOU said.

His spokesman Jim McGrath, who said earlier the fever had gone away, corrected himself, saying "It's an elevated fever, so it's actually gone up in the last day or two. ... It's a stubborn fever that won't go away."

Doctors at Methodist Hospital in Houston, where Bush was treated, have run tests, but still haven't nailed down a cause, McGrath said.

Bush was initially admitted to hospital on Nov. 23, and has remained there due to what his spokesman described as a "lingering cough."

His office originally expected discharge in late November or early December.