The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that a record number of children have died from the flu at this point in the flu season, according to an article on the CNN website.
The CDC linked 27 pediatric deaths to the flu as of Dec. 28.
This figure marks the highest death toll seen this early in the season since the CDC first started tracking flu data 17 years ago.
"This is usually what we see in February or March, not late December or early January," Dr. Jennifer Lighter, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at NYU Langone's Hassenfeld Children's Hospital, said in the article.