HARLINGEN, Texas – An 8-month-old infant diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Rio Grande Valley is now in recovery. However, after having been hospitalized from the virus, her mother is urging other families to take extra precautions to help keep their children safe.
“She had this rash all over her face. I mean, it was getting worse and worse by the day,” said Banessa Martinez, mother of an infant named Valentina.
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Martinez said her daughter began showing symptoms of the virus in early July. She said she took her daughter to the ER twice to get tested, and she told doctors Valentina might have been exposed to COVID-19 from Martinez’s father.
“She didn’t have like a fever or a cough. They didn’t want to test her,” Martinez said.
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Martinez said the doctors prescribed her daughter something for the rash and antibiotics. But Valentina continued to get worse.
“Valentina wasn’t like drinking her bottle. She wasn’t eating. She was very weak,” Martinez said.
On July 6, Martinez took Valentina to her pediatrician.
“The doctor immediately called the ambulance, the paramedics, and they rushed her to the hospital,” Martinez said.
Martinez said Valentina was admitted to Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen and tested positive for COVID-19.
Martinez said her daughter was given antibiotics and steroids, and that’s when the baby started feeling better.
Valentina has since recovered from the virus. Martinez hopes people will see Valentina’s story and take extra precautions.
“A lot of people here, they only thought it would affect the adults and not children. So you would see children without masks and not, you know, taking precautions or anything like that. I, myself, was one of them,” Martinez said.
Martinez said her two-year-old son also tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the CDC, pediatric patients with COVID-19 may experience the following signs and symptoms:
- Fever
- Cough
- Nasal congestion or rhinorrhea
- Sore throat
- Shortness of breath
- Diarrhea
- Nausea or vomiting
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Myalgia
- Poor feeding or poor appetite
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