Transcript for Conservative commentator Bre Payton dies shortly after flu diagnoses
A hard turn to our “Gma” cover story. A health alert about the flu after that shocking death of 26-year-old bre Payton, a political TV commentator and write who passed away suddenly on Friday after reportedly contracting the flu and meningitis. Janai Norman is here with that story. Good morning to you. Reporter: Good morning, so you guys know this is the time of year we hear so much about the flu and unfortunately flu-related deaths. This is different. A seemingly healthy 26-year-old who suddenly and tragically died. As someone born and raised there I’m obviously very appalled — Reporter: As 26 years old bre Payton was a rising star. I don’t think Donald Trump should talk to Mueller. Reporter: Regularly featured as a political commentator. Let’s get started. Reporter: And one America news network also a writer for the federalist the online magazine published by Meghan McCain’s husband. News of her death on Friday coming just 24 hours after a friend found her unconscious and called 911. We are sad to report the death of a Fox News regular, bre Payton. They are family confirming a C.T. Scan revealed she contracted the H1N1 flu and meningitis and in a statement her parents saying bre was a brilliant, determined and beautiful girl from day one. She could silence a room with her beauty and at the same time impress everyone with her articulate reasoning. We miss her dearly and our hearts are broken. And the family tells us her organs are being donated and Meghan McCain tweeted Ben and I are absolutely gutted and horrified by this news. Our prayers for bre Payton and her family. Eva, over to you. We are joined by pediatrician Dr. Edith brancho-sanchez. Thanks for joining us this morning. Good morning. Thank you for having me. This is such a stunning story. This woman who otherwise seemed perfectly healthy gets sick and then passes away. How can something like this happen? Eva, it can. The flu is a very, very serious illness. We typically think of children under 5 and adults over 65 and people with previous medical conditions as being most at risk for serious complications of the flu. But it can happen even in otherwise healthy, young adults, the flu can come on quickly, the symptoms can be aggressive and the complications can be fatal. Now, we don’t know if in this case she had the flu vaccine this year but how effective is this year’s vaccine for dealing with H1N1? Right, so when we think about the flu we’re talking about several viruses, one of them is H1N1 and seasons where it is the predominant virus which is what we’re seeing this season, the flu vaccine tends to be really effective. What I really want people to remember at home is that even if you’re part of those people who get the flu shot then goes on to develop the gotten the shot will still protect you from the severe complications. So it’s not that the flu shot is going to completely fail you if you get the flu. Who specifically should really look at getting this sax convenient? All of us, Eva. All of us. Everyone over 6 months of age including and especially pregnant women and people who are around babies who are younger than 6 months and can’t get vaccinated yet. Doctor, thank you so much for joining us.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.