WASHINGTON - A D.C. teenager who was the last of a group of students hospitalized in China for swine flu has been released after 10 days, her mother says.

More than two weeks after a group of 22 local students arrived in China, some of them remain quarantined due to the swine flu.

A D.C. mother and father felt helpless while their teenage daughter was being held alone inside a Chinese hospital after testing positive for swine flu.

Doctors were reportedly testing 15-year-old Liana Kutos twice a day for swine flu and although the fever was gone, she continued to test positive.

While in the hospital, her parents said she was sad, scared and now all alone. This morning, the girl called from a hospital bed in China sobbing. "You can't hear your child cry and not also not have your own heart ripped in two," said Deborah Dupont, the girl's mother.

The teen is one of 22 high school students from D.C. and Maryland on a trip to China. When one of the boys got sick on the first day, all the students were quarantined and nine tested positive for the virus.

Dupont says her daughter was the last one of the group left in the hospital.

"The fact that she was alone on the other side of the world without communication just finally did her in -- she was crying the whole time," said Scott Kutos, the girl's father.

The teen, who's been on lock down for 15 days, was adopted from China as a baby. "And so she was really, really excited about going to China and seeing her mother country," said Dupont.

"I want to make sure she's healthy,' added Kutos.

Michele Parsonnet's son Schuler also spent almost two full weeks in a Chinese hospital room. "When we get past seven days and we get past the contagious period that these kids have to stay in the hospital is the hard part," she said.

Parents say the U.S. Embassy officials in China have told them there is only so much they can do. Now Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Florida has stepped in to find out why some students are still locked down. She became involved in a similar situation a few months ago with a group of Florida students stuck in China.

Her Deputy Communications Director says, "She was contacted again this week about this case concerning Maryland students, and she is proceeding in the same manner again to ensure that they are being taken care of."
 
Even though Kutos has been released from the hospital, sources say she will be tested every day for the virus while in China.

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