A teenager from Georgia who first tested negative for flu died in a matter of days due to severe complications.
Kira Molina, a 15-year-old teen from Newnan, Georgia started to experience flu-like symptoms on Thursday, Jan. 25. She went to the clinic to get tested for flu, and the results turned out negative.
Her condition seemed to improve but three days later, her condition worsened. She was hospitalized at a local hospital in Newnan but was already unresponsive. The doctors found out that she suffered from liver failure due to complications from influenza.
The high school student was airlifted to Atlanta for treatment. However, it was too late as her immune system has severely weakened. She died at the hospital on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
False Negative Test
When her parents rushed Kira to a local hospital to get tested, the hospital was packed so they brought her to a clinic where Kira took a rapid flu test.
Rapid influenza diagnostic tests can provide results within 10 to 15 minutes, but it has only a 63 percent accuracy, and are sometimes inaccurate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A person could still have the flu even though the rapid test result is negative. However, a doctor or health care provider may diagnose a patient with flu based on symptoms and clinical judgment.
Kira tested negative in the rapid flu test, but as it turns out, Kira had influenza A.
Fatal Complications
Coweta local coroner Richard Hawk said that Kira died from liver failure after complications from the flu.
Kira's body was not able to process the effects of the medication that she took to manage her symptoms.
"What happens is it can get into the liver and by that, acetaminophen or Tylenol, is filtered out through the liver and it can cause the liver function not to work well and that causes your acetaminophen level to rise just like it was an overdose," says Hawk.
Kira's parents, Jacqueline Wilkins and Marino Molina, did not anticipate that anything bad was going to happen to their daughter. Kira was perfectly healthy before she had the flu virus.
On Sunday night, Kira just went to bed and never spoke again, according to her friend Nikki Guinn who posted a GoFundMe page to raise fund for Kira's funeral scheduled on Feb. 3.
The Georgia Department of Public Health has recorded 37 flu-related deaths across the state.
Deadly Flu Season
CDC warns that this flu season could be the worst in 15 years with the influenza virus spreading throughout all 49 states.
The health agency repeatedly advised the public of the importance of getting flu vaccinations.
Everyone aged six months and older, especially high-risk individuals, should get a flu shot every season to prevent contracting influenza.
Getting a flu vaccine lessens the chance of catching the virus by 10 to 60 percent, and it can prevent flu-related hospitalizations.
