Liz Taylor Suffers New Infections

Elizabeth Taylor suffered complications including new infections in her fifth week of hospitalization for pneumonia, and will remain hospitalized in Santa Monica for about six more weeks, doctors said Friday.

The recovery of Taylor, near death two weeks ago with viral pneumonia, was dealt a setback by bacterial pneumonia and a yeast infection, her doctors said.

During the next 1 1/2 months, she will require intravenous therapy in the hospital, they said in a statement released by St. John’s Hospital and Health Center.

Bacterial pneumonia is generally considered less serious than the viral pneumonia Taylor initially contracted because antibiotics are effective against bacteria but not viruses.

“She is tolerating this therapy extremely well and her doctors are pleased with her progress,” Taylor’s publicist, Chen Sam, said after talking to doctors.

Hospital spokeswoman Paulette Weir said she could not go beyond the statement. Taylor is in a private room and not the intensive care unit, she said.

Earlier this week, Sam said the 58-year-old actress was improving and would be released from the hospital this week to recuperate at home.

During a news conference last month, Taylor’s doctors revealed she was near death on April 22.

The Oscar-winning star of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “Butterfield 8” entered Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital on April 9 with a sinus infection, but her condition deteriorated and she was moved to St. John’s for treatment of viral pneumonia.

Taylor was reportedly in one of the hospital’s suites.

Suites are “like a small hotel room with a sitting room, a living room area,” Weir said without confirming whether the actress was in a suite.