Atlanta ? This year’s flu season draws to a close as one of the mildest in recent years, partly because the vaccine was a good match for this winter’s most common virus.

Overall flu and pneumonia deaths were below those of a typical flu season, and health officials say fewer than two dozen children’s deaths were reported.

The one exception to the overall good news is a nasty outbreak of a different flu virus that hospitalized more than 30 children in Houston.

In about half of the states, reports of flu-like illness are sporadic or virtually nonexistent now, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.