80,000 was estimate of 2017-2018 flu season:
26 Sept: 2018: AP: CDC: 80,000 people died of flu last winter in U.S., highest death toll in 40 years
In recent years, flu-related deaths have ranged from about 12,000 to — in the worst year — 56,000, according to the CDC...
CDC officials called the 80,000 figure preliminary, and it may be slightly revised. But they said it is not expected to go down.
It eclipses the estimates for every flu season going back to the winter of 1976-1977. Estimates for many earlier seasons were not readily available.
https://www.statnews.com/2018/09/26/cdc-us-flu-deaths-winter/