A 6-month-old baby in Chattanooga, Tenn., is putting up a tough fight in the pediatric intensive care unit after contracting the flu.

Asha Bentely took her daughter, Alayah, to get her flu shot last Tuesday, and while waiting hours in the doctor’s office, Asha says one of the other children may have spread the illness, reported WTVC.

After Bentely and her daughter left, she says the baby started coughing and developed a fever, which became worse as the days went on.

"It's just gotten worse her lungs are completely infected," Asha told the local news station. "She is straining and struggling to breathe."

On Sunday, Alayah was admitted to the hospital where her fight against the flu has been hard to watch for her mother.

"It's attacking very hard," Asha Bentley said. "It hurts very bad, I haven't seen my baby smile in over a week, and it's killing me."

"Right now it's just hoping and praying."

On Thursday, Alayah's mom told WTVC her daughter’s recovery is encouraging.

Asha says take the symptoms seriously and get help right away if you need it.

"If they feel like it's something don't let them turn you away, be persistent because if we weren't persistent parents they would have walked us right back out the door again."