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JAKARTA - The health of Indonesia's Suharto is getting worse, his doctors said Wednesday as the president succumbed to infections 20 days after being hospitalised.
Suharto, 86, has been in hospital since January 4 when he was rushed in with heart, lung and kidney problems.
He is now recovering from multiple organ failure that struck one week after his admission. Doctors say he is still in a critical condition.
"(His health) is worse today (Wednesday) than yesterday... because of the infections, because of excess fluid in his lungs, because he can't eat normally yet," said Mardjo Soebandiono, who heads the team of doctors treating Suharto.
"All of this is contributing to putting his condition in a position that is not optimal," he added.
Soebiandono said doctors were busy searching for and treating sources of infection in Suharto's body.
"We, the doctors, are trying to find the bacteria, detect them, administer the right antibiotics, but all of this can't be said to have been successful because (new) sources of infection continue to come out," he said.
Soebiandono said that the sources include existing bacteria that had turned aggressive and fluid on the lungs.
Suharto stepped down in 1998 amid deadly riots and mass pro-democracy protests that were sparked by the 1997 Asian economic crisis. - AFP/ir
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