A college student thought she had a UTI. Then came fevers, fatigue and pain: "Something's not right"

Mihaela Măncilă

Emma Operacz was enjoying her summer. She was a semester away from graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a degree in psychology. She had a thriving social life, two jobs that kept her busy, and was the life of every party.  Then, in June 2024, Operacz noticed symptoms of what she thought was a urinary tract infection as she attended an old friend's college graduation in Milwaukee. She took an over-the-counter medication and tried to ignore the annoyance in her otherwise stellar