By Darnell Washington, Newsophile Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES -- After being admitted in the early afternoon of August 31 to Ronald Reagan-UCLA Medical Center in Westwood for 'flu-like' symptoms, Zsa Zsa Gabor's publicist reports that the 93-year-old actress has been stabilized but may have contracted an especially virulent form of syphilis. Ms. Gabor has been in and out of the hospital since breaking her hip on July 17 at her home in Bel Air.
When not diagnosed in its initial stage, the disease can progress and include symptoms including body rashes, weight loss and low-grade fever. In many cases, these symptoms can mimic those of the common flu.
According to publicist Joan Blanchette, "it's not anyone's business how, where and from whom Ms. Gabor contracted the disease," and that fans should instead focus on praying for her quick recovery.
As for her ninth husband, 65-year-old Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, while he did not offer any theories on the source of the syphilis, he suggested to TMZ that he and Ms. Gabor managed to continue an 'active and creative sex life' even following her hip injury, adding, "She was in a wheelchair, she wasn't dead!"
Prinz von Anhalt refused to comment on whether Ms. Gabor's diagnosis is related to recent rumors of wife swapping and other group activity among long-time friends of the couple in their 70s and 80s.