Thousands of American lives have been lost to the novel coronavirus this past year, but one historically lethal illness has taken a backseat this season: the flu, which, according to federal health estimates, has killed only one child this year.

For context, nearly 200 pediatric lives were lost during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

There have been just 1,499 clinical laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza this year, per estimates from the CDC, which also shows that flu-related hospitalizations are significantly lower this season compared to seasons past.

Between Oct. 1 — the start of flu season — and Feb, 20, there have been some 183 laboratory-confirmed influenza hospitalizations, representing an overall cumulative hospitalization rate of 0.6 per 100,000 population, per the CDC.

CDC SEES RECORD FLU VACCINE DISTRIBUTION

“This is much lower than average for …continued .
[Source: Fox News]