The University of Maryland waited 18 days to inform students of a virus on campus.
It had been six days since Olivia Shea Paregol walked out of the University of Maryland health center without an answer for why she felt so awful.
Now, the 18-year-old freshman was curled up in the fetal position on the floor of her dorm room at Elkton Hall in College Park, her brown hair resting on the shaggy white rug. She warned her friends, Sarah Hauk and Riley Whelan, to stay away from a plastic bag where she had just vomited.
The teenagers hoisted Olivia up and shuffled to the elevator. Once inside, Olivia leaned against the wall and slid to the floor.
“Don’t sit down,” Riley said. “Come on, it’s just a short ride. You can do this.”
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In November and December, the University of Maryland would become the epicenter of an outbreak of adenovirus, which can have symptoms similar to a cold or flu. But certain virulent strains can sicken healthy individuals and be particularly dangerous to people with weakened immune systems — people like Olivia, who was on medication for Crohn’s disease, a serious digestive tract condition.
In these cases, medical experts say, early detection can be key to treating severe adenovirus.
But the university waited 18 days to tell the community after learning the virus was present on campus. Officials discussed — but decided against — notifying students with compromised immune systems and residents living in Elkton Hall, according to records reviewed by The Washington Post.
As the days passed, more and more students fell ill.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2019/05/16/feature/university-of-maryland-mold-adenovirus/?utm_term=.9103e258e7fa&wpisrc=al_special_report__alert-local--alert-national&wpmk=1