34-Year-Old Iowa Woman Dies From Flu

A central Iowa mom has died from the flu. She becomes the 14th Iowan to die from the flu this season. Her death is getting everyone's attention because she was just 34.

Nikki Burtlow died last Friday at a Des Moines hospital. Her sister, Amanda Reavis, told WHO her younger sister didn't go to the doctor right away when she started feeling ill. When she finally did, her condition was dire.

Burtlow was having problems walking and breathing and her skin had begun to appear yellow from jaundice last Thursday. That's the day she went to the emergency room of Newton's Skiff Medical Center. She was then taken to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines where she died the following day. According to the family, the flu had caused pneumonia and Nikki had gone into organ failure.

This is such a sad reminder of how quickly your health can deteriorate. Please, if you feel sick, visit a doctor right away.

Burtlow was a married mother of two.

[WHO]