11-year-old in hospital for weeks with life-threatening flu. ‘We’re just devastated’

As flu cases rise in the United States to levels they have not seen in years, an 11-year-old girl from Minnesota is among those fighting a life-threatening battle.

Described by her aunt as a “sweet, sassy, spunky little girl,” Olivia Lenhart was diagnosed with infleunza A after being rushed to the hospital on Jan. 13. It progressed into viral pneumonia, and she was sent home with oxygen support after a week, according to a GoFundMe.

But the battle for the fifth-grader was only just beginning.

Jamie Lenhart, Olivia’s mother, said in a Jan. 22 post on Facebook that her daughter had been brought back to the hospital and put on a ventilator when she developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome — a complication from her flu.

Now weeks later, Olivia remains on the ventilator as she fights for her life.

“We’re just devastated,” Mike Lenhart, Olivia’s father, told Valley News Live. “We didn’t expect for this to spiral out of control like this.”

Olivia’s battle is among a dramatic trend of rising influenza A cases in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported for the week ending Feb. 1 that there have been 310,000 hospitalizations and 13,000 deaths this season from the flu.

Infection levels have risen to levels not seen in at least 15 years, USA Today reported.

Minnesota, where Olivia is from, is one of the many states the CDC says has “high” influenza levels.

But Olivia, according to her family, is a “fighter” and continues to battle the life-threatening virus head on.

“Right now, it’s really about how her body is reacting to everything,” Jamie Lenhart told Valley News Live. “Sometimes it feels like one step forward, two steps back... but right now, it’s two steps forward, one step back.”

Because her breathing tube had been in for several weeks, Olivia had to have it removed to prevent further infection, but she remained on a machine to help her breathe, her mom said in a Feb. 11 Facebook post.

Olivia has been unable to talk throughout her ordeal, causing “heartbreak” from her mom as she has watched her daughter cry from the confusion of being in the hospital for so long.

“We celebrate each of the small positive changes she makes,” Jamie Lenhart said. “She amazes us every day with all the fight she has in her.”