A University of Maryland freshman died of complications from adenovirus — the same disease that killed 11 children at a New Jersey rehabilitation facility. Olivia…
A University of Maryland freshman died of complications from adenovirus — the same disease that killed 11 children at a New Jersey rehabilitation facility.
Olivia Paregol, 18, was in her first semester at the College Park school when, early in the semester, she developed a cough, which later worsened to pneumonia. She died Sunday at John Hopkins Hospital, local outlets reported.
“Just the sweetest girl that you would ever possibly meet,” her father, Ian Paregol told WJZ . “She was just a real beautiful soul and a wonderful person.”
The university acknowledged the death of a student in a letter to the school community and said that six cases of “adenovirus-associated illness” have been confirmed on campus. One of them is a case of adenovirus 7, a more serious strain.
The virus can cause colds and pneumonia, but some strains can result more serious illnesses, especially in people who have compromised immune systems. Olivia Paregol would have been at risk because the medication she was taking to combat her Crohn’s disease weakened her immune system, her dad said.
Ian Paregol said he was trying to figure out whether her condition was worsened by a mold outbreak on campus this fall.
“Every kid in that dorm is sick,” he told The Baltimore Sun.
He also thinks the school should have told Olivia’s doctors about the other adenovirus cases earlier, so she could be tested for the disease sooner.
“If they would have known a week earlier, I think there would have been a different result,” Paregol said. “We didn’t know that there were other cases of adenovirus.”
Eleven children who stayed at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation have died from the disease.
