Gov. Branstad released from hospital

Gov. Terry Branstad has been released from Iowa Methodist Medical Center, where he was rushed by ambulance Monday after collapsing while giving a speech, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Branstad's staff said a "flu-like illness" apparently caused him to become woozy during a late-morning appearance in Johnston, but they said he never lost consciousness. Staffers said the hope was that Branstad would be released Tuesday morning.

As he waited for an ambulance to arrive, the 68-year-old governor jokingly noted to a legislator that his wife, Chris, had urged him to stay home because of a bug he'd been trying to fight off. It turns out that was good advice.

Except for a hoarse voice, Branstad felt OK when he started his morning, his spokesman said later. But during a speech at a DuPont Pioneer event in Johnston, the governor appeared to become wobbly. Someone got a chair for him to sit in, and people assisting him quickly laid him down on the stage.

As Branstad was being treated, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds went to the microphone to inform the crowd that she and Branstad had both been struggling with illness. "We've both been fighting the flu over the past four days," Reynolds told the crowd. "We've tried very hard to keep up our schedule. If you know our great governor, he is not one to slow down or let up."

Officials then cleared the room, as a Johnston rescue crew put Branstad in an ambulance and headed to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.

During a news conference at Methodist a few hours later, spokesman Jimmy Centers said Branstad was being given fluids and would stay overnight at the hospital. "He's alert, conscious and resting comfortably," Centers said.

Dr. Mark Purtle, chief medical officer of Unity­Point Health-Des Moines, the parent of Iowa Methodist, said he personally reviewed Branstad's medical records and visited with him and his attending physicians.

"We believe the governor has a viral illness with dehydration," Purtle said, according to a statement released Monday night by Branstad's office. "We also conducted a series of tests in which we ruled out other contributing factors, including cardiac issues."

Branstad has a history of heart issues, including a heart attack in 2000. But Centers said he did not believe there was concern that those issues contributed to Monday's incident.

Centers said the governor obtained a flu shot in the fall, as usual. He said Branstad had been fighting some kind of bug for a while. "But he rested over the weekend and this morning was feeling OK, other than having a hoarse voice."

Iowa and the nation have been suffering through an unusually tough flu season the past two months. Public-health officials have stressed that people who feel ill should stay home, so they can recover without infecting others.

When asked if, in retrospect, Branstad and Reynolds should have canceled appearances because they were sick, Centers replied: "The governor and lieutenant governor enjoy getting out and meeting with Iowans. As you know, they keep an ambitious schedule to hear from Iowans. But certainly, the governor and lieutenant governor will take it easy and recover and then return to serving Iowans."

Branstad exercises regularly and takes pride in keeping fit. When a reporter asked Centers if the governor's collapse could have been due to anything other than the flu or a cold, Centers said: "We look forward to sharing much more information when it becomes available."

State Sen. Brad Zaun, who was at the Pioneer event, said he talked with the governor shortly after he collapsed.

"He kind of jokingly said, 'My wife told me I shouldn't be going to work today,' " recalled Zaun.

Zaun, an Urbandale Republican, said the governor did not seem extremely ill.

"I know that when the paramedics showed up, he was asked a lot of questions, and he answered all of those questions 100 percent right. He never lost consciousness," he said.

The senator, who was sitting in the front row during Branstad's speech, said he could tell the governor was losing his balance. "It was obviously shocking, but I am glad that there were people there to help him. I personally think that the governor wanted to get back up and finish his speech. But everybody was saying, 'No. We aren't going to do that.' "

Zaun called the incident "very scary," but said many people get lightheaded when they have the flu. "I expect him to be 100 percent fine once he gets his rest."

Earlier Monday, Branstad spoke in a hoarse voice and drank water during his weekly news conference. At the end of the event, a Des Moines Register reporter asked Branstad if he had been suffering from influenza, and Branstad replied that he'd had a cold over the past couple of weeks. "I have a bad cold, and so does the lieutenant governor, and we are not alone," Branstad said.

Asked if he had gone to the doctor, he said, 'Yes."

Asked how long he had been sick, Branstad replied, "We have had it off and on for some time. A couple weeks or more."

Flu shots urged

If it turns out Gov. Terry Branstad caught the flu despite getting a flu shot, he will not be alone. This year's version of the vaccine is less effective than usual, because the dominant strain has shifted its genes in a way that makes it a relatively poor match for the shots. But experts have continued to stress that people still should get the shots because they offer some protection against the main strain, and good protection against other strains.

The flu is usually marked by a sudden onset of a fever, plus cough, runny nose, headache and body aches. Colds usually do not come with high fevers, and they don't generally cause as many aches.

The flu season hit harder and earlier than usual, and although hospitalizations have started to dip, public health officials are urging people to keep their guard up.

Besides obtaining the vaccine, they're urging people to wash hands frequently and avoid people who appear ill. People who come down with symptoms are urged to rest, drink plenty of fluid, cough and sneeze into a tissue or elbow, and stay home from work, school or other public activities.

The elderly, young children and people with chronic health problems are most at risk of dangerous complications, such as pneumonia. Although most people can recover safely with over-the-counter medications, some are being given prescription antiviral drugs. Those drugs are supposed to be given within the first 48 hours after the illness appears.

Many people who are hospitalized are released after a day or two of rest and rehydration. Several Iowans have died of the flu this season, however, including at least three children.

Register staff writer William Petroski contributed to this report.