The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects flu-related pediatric deaths to hit record highs this season, CBS News reported Monday.
At least 37 children have died from the flu this season, the report said.
"We've seen kids are really making up the predominant amount of influenza-like illness. And they're taking that back to school, it's getting transmitted there, and I think that's really what's driving a lot of the visits to the outpatient clinic right now," Daniel Jernigan, director at the CDC Influenza Division, told CBS News.
At least six school districts in Oklahoma have closed because too many staff members and students are sick, CBS reported. In Gulf County, Florida, more than 20 percent of students were out of school due to flu-like symptoms.
"Eleven in this building alone, of the instructional staff, are out, either sick or tending to their sick child," Jim Norton, superintendent at the Gulf County Schools, told CBS News.
The CDC said it is safe for pregnant women to get a flu shot, which can help protect infants from getting the virus for several months after they are born, CBS News reported.
Every state in the U.S. is reporting widespread flu activity, with 39 states, as well as New York City and Puerto Rico experiencing "high" influenza activity, according to the CDC.
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