UPDATED: CMU student dies from meningitis
A Central Michigan University student from Macomb County died Thursday morning, succumbing to bacterial meningitis.
Kristy Malter, a 21-year-old CMU junior, was working in a day camp at Life Time Fitness gym in Rochester Hills when she became ill. Her boyfriend Zach Nevedal told Central Michigan Life Malter officially died at 8:03 a.m. Thursday.
She began not feeling well and was tired on Monday, he said, but Malter was working 60 hours a week. The family thought she just needed rest. On Tuesday, Malter stayed home from work due to a fever. Nevedal said her fever broke later that afternoon. At 10 p.m. Tuesday, Nevedal said Malter started acting strange so the family brought her to the hospital where she fainted. She never woke up.
"I still haven't really wrapped my head around it yet," he said in a Facebook message.
According to her mother's Facebook post, Malter was admitted to the hospital Tuesday night. The post read "the outlook isn't good."
According to a press release from the Oakland County Health Division, officials from the division were notified Wednesday of a "Lifetime Fitness day camp employee in Rochester Hills with bacterial meningitis who is a Macomb County resident."
Malter was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority at CMU. She graduated from Notre Dame Preparatory School in 2013.
Birmingham senior Faryn Prosser, a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, cheered with Malter on the Notre Dame Preparatory cheer team. The two fell just short of winning a state championship together their senior year in 2013. Prosser said she didn't know anyone her first day of high school, but Malter was one of the first to introduce herself.
"Kristy was without a doubt one of the most selfless and genuine people I've ever known," Prosser said. "She greeted every person she met with a smile and never had a bad thing to say about anyone."
Nevedal and Malter's relationship began on Valentine's Day. They had been officially dating for four months. He called Malter a "different breed that we all should be aspiring to be more like."
"Her only flaw was that she cares too much about people. That's not a bad flaw to have," Nevedal said in a Facebook message. "She absolutely loved kids and wanted to work with them for the rest of her life. She once told me 'If I had to work hard for the rest of my life to change one kid's life,' she would be happy."
The Oakland County Health Division is in the process of identifying and contacting people who may have had close contact with the case, including staff and day camp attendees, according to the release.
At a news conference, Oakland County health officials said about 209 children ages 5-12 were in the camp between July 1-11.
"The disease is not spread through casual contact or by simply being in the same room as an infected person," said Kathy Forzley, manager and health officer of the Health Division. "A person must have direct contact with an infected person's saliva or nasal secretions. If exposed, the incubation period is one to 10 days."
George Kikano, dean of CMU's College of Medicine, said all young adults should be vaccinated for meningitis.
“In third world countries, it’s much more common," he said. "We do see outbreaks of meningitis in America, but there’s been less occurrences because of vaccine prevention.”
