New York, Sep 12 (IANS) Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has cancelled a two-day trip to California starting Monday after she was diagnosed with pneumonia and advised rest by her doctor, media reports said.
Clinton was being treated for pneumonia and dehydration, her doctor said on Sunday night, hours after she abruptly left a ceremony in downtown Manhattan commemorating the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and had to be helped into a van by Secret Service agents, the New York Times reported.
Clinton left the Ground Zero ceremony after an hour and 30 minutes. A video posted by a bystander on Twitter appeared to show Clinton extremely unsteady and supported by aides, being helped from the curb into a vehicle. She was taken to her daughter Chelsea's apartment in Manhattan.
Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Clinton, said the former secretary of state would remain at her home in Chappaqua, to rest.
The pneumonia diagnosis was made on Friday, according to her doctor Lisa R. Bardack, following a widely reported "coughing fit" days earlier, which her team had blamed on "allergies".
"Secretary Clinton has been experiencing a cough related to allergies," NBC News quoted Bardack as saying.
"On Friday, during follow up evaluation of her prolonged cough, she was diagnosed with pneumonia," Bardack said on Sunday evening, adding "She was put on antibiotics, and advised to rest and modify her schedule. While at this morning's event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now re-hydrated and recovering nicely."
The cancellation of her California trip was confirmed by her campaign on Sunday night.
She was supposed to campaign in San Francisco and Los Angeles and was scheduled to make an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Hill daily reported.
The incident, which occurred after months of questions about her health from her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, and his campaign, was likely to increase pressure on Clinton to address the issue and release detailed medical records, which she has so far declined to do, according to the New York Times.
For months Republicans have questioned the stamina of Clinton and claimed she was ill, often pointing to her repeated coughing bouts.
She has brushed off such claims saying that Trump has shared substantially less information about his health than some previous presidential candidates.
Asked whether she was concerned that such questions about her health would affect the election, as the polls have tightened, Clinton told reporters on her campaign plane last week: "I'm not concerned about the conspiracy theories. There are so many of them, I've lost track of them," the New York Times added.
