The University of Maryland said Friday it’s aware of 22 confirmed cases of students testing positive for the adenovirus.
The university said four specimens returned from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are adenovirus 7, a strain that may cause more severe illness particularly for those with chronic medical problems like asthma and diabetes, or illnesses that lower the immune system, or for those who take medicine that lowers the immune system.
University officials said people should not ignore flu-like symptoms that include high fever and cough/sore throat and vomiting/diarrhea. They said people who feel symptoms should go to a doctor within 48 hours of developing symptoms.
The count also includes a number of students who had been sick earlier in November but have since recovered.
One student, freshman Olivia Paregol of Howard County, died from complications of the virus. Her immune system was weakened because of medication she took for Crohn’s disease, and her father said she was not tested for adenovirus when she became sick.
Departments all across the College Park campus plan to increase cleaning of surfaces in light of the cases.
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