ATLANTA -- The flu that has afflicted thousands of children across the country is now intensifying in Georgia, health officials said.

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The Georgia Division of Public Health has upgraded the state's level of flu activity from local to regional, with evidence of the flu in metro Atlanta, northeast Georgia and the Statesboro and Waycross area, said Richard Quartarone, division spokesman.

"We know it's in the state and know it's in the general population in Georgia," Quartarone said. "If you've been putting off getting vaccinated, now's the time to do it."

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But getting the flu shot now may take a few calls, as the nation's flu shot makers said they have distributed all of this year's supply -- about 80 million doses -- to suppliers and clinics. The health division is checking to see if there are any shortages in Georgia, Quartarone said.

"It's just a matter of time before we start to run into short supplies," said Dr. James Wilde, an associate professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia, which has seen a sharp rise in the last few weeks of people with flu-like illnesses. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's not as bad as it was last year."

Last year, an explosive outbreak of type B influenza led to record-setting numbers of children in the medical college's emergency department.

Type A flu strains, which include this season's Fujian strain, tend to affect both kids and adults.

"What we are going to see are a lot of sick adults," Wilde said. "Both groups are going to be passing it back and forth between each other."

Georgia health officials recommend that people wash their hands, cover the mouth when coughing or sneezing and not to go to school or work when sick to prevent spreading the flu in the state.