Fox News anchor John Roberts is on the mend after contracting malaria.
Roberts, 70, shared a health update via X on Saturday, August 30, that revealed he was planning to leave Virginia’s Inova Fairfax hospital “after five days and six nights.”
The TV star wrote, “I hope to be heading back home to my family today,” before reflecting on the illness itself, which is described by Mayo Clinic as a parasite “spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes.”
Roberts wrote, “Malaria is an awful disease that needs to be attacked full-force when a diagnosis is made. In my time here, I’ve gone from being so sick that any dog would take pity on me to being ready to fire up the grill on Labor Day (well, maybe ready to watch the grill being fired up).”
He concluded, “I look forward to getting back in the saddle. Just stay away from these little effers.”
Roberts was hospitalized prior to being diagnosed with the illness after experiencing “uncontrolled shivering” while presenting on TV, per an interview he conducted with People that was published on Thursday, August 28. A personal health advisor then urged Roberts to “go to the ER.”
Subsequent blood work showed that Roberts’ platelets and white blood cell levels were both low before a diagnosis was presented.
He told the outlet, “I thought, ‘Of course you have malaria. … You never do anything in small measures.’ But I was a little scared. Malaria can be deadly if left unchecked. I don’t know exactly how ‘severe’ it was from a medical classification, but it sure felt severe. I have never felt that sick in my life.”
Roberts noted that he thought he contracted the illness, which is described by the Mayo Clinic to start with shivering and chills before a high fever sets in and sweating commences, while vacationing in Indonesia in July. The anchor told People that he started feeling unwell about 10 days after he got back home.
In Roberts’ X post, he thanked several people who supported him in hospital, including wife Kyra Phillips, who works for ABC News as a correspondent. “Thank you to my beloved wife … who found global malaria expert Dr Doug Postels in Malawi who served as a guiding hand through all of this.”
Roberts continued, “Thanks too to pulmonologist Matt Williams and all of the compassionate nurses and technicians at Inova Health: Genevieve, Claire, Lauren, Daniel, Yvonne, Anar, Raysa (who finally found a good new vein for an IV when all the others said “enough”) and the countless others behind the scenes who assisted in my recovery.”
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