George HW Bush hospitalised day after his wife Barbara's funeral

Former US President George H.W. Bush has been hospitalised just days after the death of his wife Barbara.

He was rushed to a hospital in Houston with an infection just a day after attending his wife’s funeral, a spokesman for the 93-year-old said.

Family spokesman Jim McGrath said on Twitter that the former president is "responding to treatments and appears to be recovering."

He was admitted on Sunday morning to Houston Methodist Hospital after an infection spread to his blood, Mr McGrath said.

Barbara Bush’s funeral was on Saturday.

Mr Bush uses a wheelchair and an electric scooter for mobility. He has needed hospital treatment several times in recent years for respiratory problems.

He has been diagnosed with vascular Parkinsonism, a condition that mimics Parkinson’s disease.

A year ago this month, Mr Bush spent two weeks in the hospital for treatment of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis, a constant irritation of the lining of tubes that carry air to one's lungs.

Mr Bush's doctors said chronic bronchitis is a condition more prevalent with age and can aggravate the symptoms of pneumonia.