Doctors have recommended that former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka receive indoor hospital treatment for an indefinite period since he was suffering from a severe lung ailment.

His wife Anoma Fonseka said doctors had recommended that he be nebulized every four hours for his lung ailment and had said they could not determine as to when he could leave hospital.

The purpose of a nebulizer is to turn the medicine into a breathable mist, which the patient then inhales passively for ten to twenty minutes. This is done to open blocked airways that makes difficult for the patients to breathe. 

Besides she said her husband might have to stay for a few more days as the Magazine prison where he was now serving a sentence did not have enough facilities. Ms. Fonseka said the nebulizer which they handed over to the prison when the former army commander fell ill was not sufficient for her husband to get relief from his persistent cough. 

Fonseka was brought to hospital on Friday after court ordered that he be taken to hospital as he was found suffering from Asthmatic bronchitis. He was brought to hospital after he threatened to stage a hunger strike as there was a delay in bringing him

He is said to be suffering from a respiratory illness probably caused by the injuries to his lungs as a result of the bomb attack he survived in 2006.  (Yohan Perera)