LONDON (AP) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was hospitalized Sunday
over an apparent stomach infection that has ailed her for days, a rare
instance of ill health sidelining the long-reigning monarch. Elizabeth
will have to cancel a visit to Rome and other engagements as she
recovers, and outside experts said she may have to be rehydrated
intravenously.
Buckingham Palace said the 86-year-old queen had
experienced symptoms of gastroenteritis and was being examined at
London's King Edward VII Hospital.
"As a precaution, all official engagements for this
week will regrettably be either postponed or cancelled," the palace
said in a statement. Elizabeth's two-day trip to Rome had been planned
to start Wednesday. A palace spokeswoman said the trip may be
"reinstated" at a later date.
The symptoms of gastroenteritis - vomiting and
diarrhea - usually pass after one or two days, although they can be more
severe in older or otherwise vulnerable people. Dehydration is a common
complication.
The illness was first announced Friday, and
Elizabeth had to cancel a visit Swansea, Wales, on Saturday to present
leeks - a national symbol - to soldiers of the Royal Welsh Regiment in
honor of Wales' national day, St. David's Day. She instead spent the day
trying to recover at Windsor Castle, but appears to have had trouble
kicking the bug.
A doctor not involved in the queen's treatment said
that if medical officials determined that she is losing too much fluid,
she would be rehydrated intravenously.
"Not everyone can keep up with oral hydration so it
is pretty routine to go to hospital and have a drip and wait for the
thing to pass and keep yourself hydrated," said Dr. Christopher Hawkey
of the University of Nottingham's faculty of medicine and health
sciences.
Britain's National Health Service says that the two
most common causes of gastroenteritis in adults are food poisoning and
the norovirus, a common winter vomiting bug which typically afflicts
between 600,000 and 1 million Britons each year. British health
guidelines advise that people with the norovirus avoid work for at least
two days.
"It's very infectious and strikes in winter because people are indoors and it spreads more easily," Hawkey said.
Elizabeth has ruled since 1952 and is Britain's
second-longest serving monarch, beaten only by Queen Victoria in terms
of the number of years spent on the throne.
Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip, 91, has had
several hospital stays in 2012 but Elizabeth has rarely let sickness get
in the way of her still-busy schedule.
About five months ago, she cancelled an engagement
due to a bad back. The spokeswoman, who demanded anonymity because
palace rules do not let her go on the record, said the last time
Elizabeth was hospitalized was in 2003.
The queen has undertaken a number of engagements
over the past week. On Tuesday, she met the new archbishop of
Canterbury, Justin Welby, at Buckingham Palace, and on Thursday she
presented a host of British Olympians, including track and field star
Jessica Ennis, with honors during an investiture ceremony.
Ingrid Seward, the editor of the Britain's Majesty
Magazine, said that the queen "probably agreed to be hospitalized in
order to get better quickly."
"Everybody will want to be wishing her a speedy recovery," she told Sky News television.
That includes British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose office said he passed on his best wishes to the queen.
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