Flu activity right now is the highest it's been all season. In Georgia, flu activity is widespread.

The flu vaccine was about 50 percent effective against this year's influenza strains, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For children, the overall effectiveness was a little better at 61 percent.

How does this year's vaccine stack up next to previous years? The CDC's Josh Doyle says, "the range is generally sort of between 40 and 60 percent effective so that's in the range of what we'd expect to see."

The main strain that is circulating this year is the H1N1 virus.

This is the first year the government has tracked overall flu deaths. In the past they just tracked pediatric flu related deaths. At this point the CDC estimated the number of deaths related to flu is between 9,600 and 15,900. The number of pediatric deaths so far this season is at 28. Last year 185 children died from flu.

In Georgia, the state health department says so far there have been nine flu related deaths this season.

The virus typically causes fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea. While most people recover from the flu without requiring hospitalization, some can develop life-threatening complications.

While the vaccine doesn't offer complete protection, it does offer some and the CDC urges everyone to get vaccinated.