Santorum's daughter taken to hospital

FILE - In this June 6, 2011 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum holds his daughter Isabella in Somerset. The ill daughter of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has been hospitalized. Santorum's campaign said Friday that Bella had been taken to an undisclosed hospital. The 3-year-old has the rare genetic condition Trisomy 18 and was hospitalized earlier this year with pneumonia. Santorum's campaign did not say why she was hospitalized. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Verona, Pa. – GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum and wife Karen Santorum have taken their daughter Isabella to a Pennsylvania hospital, his campaign said Friday.

The campaign didn't specify the cause, but Isabella, 3, was diagnosed shortly after birth with a often fatal genetic disorder known as Trisomy 18. The Santorums spent time at a hospital with Isabella in January when the girl came down with pneumonia.

"The family requests prayers and privacy as Bella works her way to recovery,"  Hogan Gidley, the campaign's national communications director, said in a statement.

Santorum has often said the child was not expected to live past her first birthday.

Santorum had announced Wednesday he was returning to his Virginia home for a break from the campaign and to celebrate the Easter weekend, then return to the trail Monday.