Simon Hultman, 22, died Jan. 26 at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. Simon’s mother, Diane Hultman, today said Maryland specialists told her they suspect hemorrhagic dengue fever may be the cause of her youngest son’s death. He was a senior at Washington College in Maryland.

But Diane Hultman also said officials are awaiting results of a second test that went to Puerto Rico. Hawai'i Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said that test was being done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Yesterday, Diane Hultman — who had just returned from Maryland — said local health department officials sprayed her house and yard and those of her neighbors for mosquitoes. Dengue is spread by mosquitoes.

Diane Hultman said no one in their family or at Washington College, and none of their friends has been sick. She said Simon did some hiking on the Big Island with three other friends who were home from college over the holidays. But she has been in touch with all of them and none has become ill.

The disease is not transmitted person-to-person, according to the CDC.

Okubo said the Health Department generally advises people to eliminate standing water where mosquitoes can breathe as a precaution against dengue, West Nile virus and other illnesses.

Diane Hultman said she hopes to find out what caused her son’s illness. "It’s not going to bring Simon back, but it would be good to know."

She also hopes he is remembered more as "a great kid" with a good personality who did well in school as he tried "to make the world a better place."

Health authorities in Baltimore earlier ruled out severe acute respiratory syndrome and meningitis but were testing for other illnesses that can cause flu-like symptoms. Hultman returned to Washington College from Hawai'i on Jan. 14 for the start of classes.

But five days later he went to a local emergency room complaining of flu-like symptoms and died a week later. He had recently spent time abroad: in Hungary as part of his international studies and in Japan in 2001.

Washington College has said that the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene "has not identified any evidence of a situation that requires special disease prevention actions" at the college.

Maryland officials today said that no official cause of death has been determined.

Two years ago Hawai'i wiped out pockets of dengue fever after 119 cases were confirmed over a six-month period, Okubo said. There were no deaths and no cases of hemorrhagic fever in Hawai'i, she said.

Most cases were on Maui, where 89 were confirmed. There were 26 cases on O'ahu, four on Kaua'i and none on the Big Island.