Jamie Ducharme:

A total of 172 pediatric deaths deaths have now been reported in connection with the 2017-2018 flu season, including two that occurred as recently as mid- to late-May, according to the CDC. That number edges out the 171 deaths seen in 2012-2013, and surpasses the number of deaths recorded in all but pandemic years, which involve a global outbreak of a new influenza virus, to which most people are not immune.