WASHINGTON -- Following one of the deadliest flu seasons for American children in recent history, a leading doctor said at a Washington luncheon on Wednesday that a universal vaccine is still far from complete.

“The idea that we’re ever going to get rid of influenza is a non-starter,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Fauci was blunt at Wednesday’s National Press Club luncheon.

The 2017-2018 flu season killed at least 172 American children, according to the Centers for Disease Control – the highest number of deaths in a non-pandemic flu season.

Fauci said influenza’s many forms has been a longstanding challenge for the medical community.

“Given the nature of the fact that it changes from season to season, we don’t do very well with vaccination,” he said.

Fauci explained that one singular vaccine will never be fully effective because the disease mutates over time.

And he said the vaccines we rely on right now are not perfect.

“On a bad year, it’s maybe 10 percent effective,” Fauci said. “Compare that to [the] measles [vaccine], which every year is 97 to 98-percent effective.”

That’s because flu vaccines are currently grown in eggs, which can take up to six months.

Fauci said relevant medicine often comes too late in flu season.

But he said a good vaccine, one that closely matches a type of flu, can be 40 to 60 percent effective.

The biggest test, Fauci said, is figuring out how to make a ‘base’ vaccine that could protect people from certain common types of flu, and then build on that year after year so the body is capable of fighting off more.

But Fauci said that’s still several years away from happening.

“Despite all our technological advances, we have not been able to get a vaccine that is given in a form where it can essentially protect you against all the natural iterations that happen,” he said.

Fauci also said it’s important to bust myths.

He said there is no evidence to support the one that claims certain vaccines cause autism.

Lastly, Fauci said it helps tremendously to frequently wash your hands or use hand sanitizer.