UNM swine flu death tests university

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Earlier this year the University of New Mexico set guidelines to control the flu on campus, a plan put to the test after a freshman died from the disease on Wednesday.

“Very tragic at such a young age, it impacts not only people he lived with, but people in his learning community,” Dr. Beverly Kloeppel, director of the UNM student health, told KRQE News 13.

Freshman Raymond Plotkin died Wednesday night at UNM Hospital after becoming very ill with flu-like symptoms. The 18-year-old from Houston was in his first semester at UNM.

He did not have any chronic medical problems, health officials said.

The news of Plotkin's death reached students in his dorm Thursday.

“He lived right down the hall from me,” Felisha Paschel said.

Paschel said her roommate was shocked

"She was in tears last night," Paschel continued. "She was going crazy. She couldn't believe it.”

While students mourned, UNM staff began cleaning. The university said it deep-cleaned Plotkin's dorm but did not do any special cleaning to his classrooms.

“We haven't gone to each of his classes or done anything in particular in those classes,” Kloeppel said. They've been cleaning and sanitizing classrooms every day as part of strict sanitizing guidelines implemented back in August, but that's about all the university can do, she added.

“It’s a wide area, and this virus travels very rapidly,” Kloeppel said.