Queensland teenager dies from flu outbreak

A teenager has become the latest victim of of one of the worst flu seasons in Australia's history.

Madeline Jones, 18, from Queensland, became unwell on a holiday on the Sunshine Coast with her boyfriend, Callum Royle, and fell into a coma two weeks ago.

Doctors said influenza along with a bacterial infection, resulted in sepsis, which led to organ failure.

Madeline, affectionately called Maddy, started showing mild symptoms and slipped into a coma five days later.

The young woman, who would have turned 19 this Sunday, was studying law and business as university and is being remembered as a bubbly and caring person with a bright future.

Family and friends paid tribute to Maddy, who was an animal lover, tennis player and children's coach, The Courier Mail reported. 

"She was very funny, beautiful and very smart and she loved animals," her mother, Danielle Nielsen, said.

“Maddy was also very independent, very strong willed, very determined and that’s why she was going to make a great lawyer.”

Her father, Damian Jones said: “She was very outgoing and loved life.

“She was very much an animal lover and volunteered for a bit at the RSPCA but she wanted to adopt every animal under the sun.”

Long-term boyfriend Mr Royle told The Courier Mail her sudden death took everyone by surprise.

“It’s hard to believe that only a month ago we were having a discussion about our future and we were pretty certain that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together,” he said.

“Maddy had an awful lot of potential to be something very special and have a great impact on the world.”

Her death comes as health experts admit this year’s flu jab has done little to stop one of the worst flu seasons in Australia’s history.

Last month, Canberra mother-of-two Jennifer Thew died of complications from influenza.

Victoria has seen a number of deaths due to influenza this year, including eight-year-old Rosie Andersen from Melbourne and eight people in an aged care facility in Wangaratta.

Six people also died in a nursing home in Tasmania in September.