22 year old Li Lihong, who is in a critically condition in Xiangya Hospital, has been suffering from a high fever for nearly 300 days, the Changsha Evening News reported today.

"My daughter is a good student, but here she is in the emergency room and could die at any moment," said Lin Xiao'e, the girl's mother. Since no hospital has been able to diagnose her daughter's condition, in desperation Mrs Lin decided to talk to the press in the hope of finding someone who is able to help.

Li Lihong, a student at Tianjin University of Science and Technology, developed a fever last September. Local hospitals could not make a diagnosis and sent her to a Hunan hospital for further checks.

At the time she had a temperature of 39℃, ascites (excess peritoneal fluid), and hepatosplenomegaly (enlargement of the liver and spleen). The hospital made a tentative diagnosis of tubercular peritonitis or hypersplenism. After 40 days treatment, her symptoms disappeared, but 10 days after leaving hospital her temperature rose to 40℃. Since then, she has been in and out of hospitals in Changsha and Beijing. Each time she was discharged she developed another fever within 10 days.

In the emergency room, Li Lihong was put on a drip and given oxygen. She was pale and short of breath. "They sent her to the emergency room twice this morning, because she was short of breath," Lin Xiao'e said. Her family has had to borrow 160,000 yuan to pay for Li Lihong's treatment, but so far no hospital has been able to identify her illness. This time, the hospital has diagnosed severe pneumonia and plans to transfer her to the respiratory diseases department for treatment. However, due to her unstable situation, she cannot be transferred for the time being.

(China.org.cn by Wang Wei, June 12, 2008)