After last year's deadly season, health care providers brace for flu

Local health care officials and providers are strongly urging residents to take precautions and get flu shots this year after the 2017 flu season was the deadliest since 2009. Cynthia Burnham, a registered nurse and medical division coordinator at the Joplin Health Department, said there were 180 pediatric deaths in the United States as a result of the flu virus last year.