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Freshman’s death alarms students at Miami University

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Miami University sophomore Jamie Blough waits to seek treatment Monday, Sept. 28, at the school’s health clinic
in Oxford. Students who come in with upper respiratory problems are asked to wear masks as a precaution against the spread of swine flu.

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Miami University sophomore Jamie Blough waits to seek treatment Monday, Sept. 28, at the school’s health clinic in Oxford. Students who come in with upper respiratory problems are asked to wear masks as a precaution against the spread of swine flu.

By Marisa Head Updated 8:32 PM Sunday, September 27, 2009

OXFORD — The death of a Miami University student on Saturday, Sept. 26, which one newspaper tied to swine flu, has students on edge.

Freshman Matthew Healey, 18, of Boston, Mass., died at University Hospital in Cincinnati, according to Claire Wagner, Miami University spokeswoman. Healey had been ill, she said.

Healey’s death resulted from swine flu, according to the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass. The newspaper did not disclose the source of that information.

Healey died three days after Kimberly Young a recent Miami graduate living and working near campus, died of viral pneumonia. Friends initially suspected that Young died from swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus.

“It’s a really big deal,” said Jessica Gisewhite, a Miami junior from Flemington, N.J. “That is really saddening to me that people are dying from the flu.”

The Ohio Department of Health could not confirm that Healey’s death was related to the H1N1 virus. “We do not have a new H1N1-related death reported to us,” spokesman Kristopher Weiss said Monday.

MU health officials have seen about 400 students since August with what they believe to be the H1N1 virus, said Gail Walenga, assistant vice president for student health and wellness.

Three specimens from those students sent to ODH tested positive for H1N1, Walenga said.

“This is a relatively mild disease,” Walenga said. “The majority of the students that we see have recovered successfully from their symptoms.”

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