Basu's health shows slight improvement; still critical

The condition of veteran Communist Party of India - Marxist leader Jyoti Basu on Wednesday showed slight improvement but he continued to remain critical.

According to the 12.10 pm medical bulletin, Basu's condition has improved marginally. His infection level has decreased and the functioning of his kidneys has improved as well.

The former West Bengal chief minister is still on partial ventilator.

"His blood pressure and pulse are stable at the moment and he has mild fever," said AMRI Hospital Superintendent Dr Debashis Sharma.

The 95-year-old Marxist leader, who was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia on January 1, will be given one more unit of blood today to raise his haemoglobin count, his personal physician Dr A K Maity said.

His urine output has improved a little and he is responding to treatment, he said. A brain CT scan done on Tuesday on Basu had shown no change on the previous subdural haematoma.