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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – While most first-year college students are preparing to return home for the Thanksgiving break – often their first trip since beginning their studies – a Maryland family is facing a unspeakable tragedy.
Olivia Paregol, 18, a freshman at the University of Maryland, has died of an adenovirus, a group of viruses that can cause sore throats, bronchitis and pneumonia. It has been fatal in people whose immune system is compromised.
Paregol was treated for Crohn's disease, an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, when she contracted an adenovirus, said her father in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC, WJLA.
His father, Ian, said that his daughter had been tested for the disease only after learning that others had been diagnosed and that no information had been sent by the school. He criticized the university for not informing the students earlier.
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"It was said that there were two students with the virus when I called to find out what my daughter had, which means that they knew it before my daughter," Ian Paregol told WJLA during a phone interview. "It's the worst nightmare that a family or relative may have to endure."
The University of Maryland announced Tuesday that five other students had tested positive for the disease.
"I am sad to say that a student from the University of Maryland recently died of an adenovirus-related disease," the school said in its statement. "We offer our condolences during this difficult time.
"While we are generally prohibited from publicly sharing medical information, a family member has allowed us to share this news and to urge others to take this strain of common virus seriously," he said. he continued.
David McBride, director of the University Health Center, said in a statement that he had learned of the existence of an "isolated case" of adenovirus in a student on Nov. 1. The school said it was testing students from the health center and a sample. November 19 returned positive for adenovirus 7, a more potent strain of the disease.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Olivia Paregol was diagnosed with pneumonia on November 9 and her condition worsened further. She was admitted to the Johns Hopkins Intensive Care Unit on November 12th.
"She definitely seemed to be getting sicker," Ian Paregol told WJLA.
Eleven children died in a New Jersey medical facility as of last month as a result of an adenovirus outbreak. According to officials, 34 children at the Waneque Rehab Center in Haskell, New Jersey, were infected and 11 died, the latest on the weekend. The facility, which announced the infections on Oct. 9, treated children whose immune systems were weakened.
About 30,000 undergraduate students attend the University of Maryland, whose main campus is located at College Park.
© 2018 Cox Media Group.
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