Flu activity is on the rise and now nine states and New York City are dealing with 'high' flu activity levels, according to the latest CDC Influenza Surveillance report.

Eleven children have died so far from the flu or pneumonia this season, four of which occurred during the latest CDC reporting time period.

The CDC's measure (as shown in the map above) shows how outpatient flu visits to hospitals compare to geographic averages when there's no flu.

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Last week, only Georgia and Colorado were in the "high" activity level. Now, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Carolina and New York have joined the most active category.

While those nine states experienced "high" rates of influenza-like illness, Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia ranked in the "moderate" category, the next highest level.

Georgia, along with Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York and North Carolina reported widespread flu activity, a measure of the rate of spread of the flu virus, according to the CDC's report.

In fact, all states reporting to the CDC are experiencing some activity and spread of the flu virus. Alaska, Maryland and Tennessee did not report or had insufficient data on some of the measures.

(MORE: The Southwest Might Be in One of the Worst Mega-Droughts in History)

Peak flu activity can be seen anytime between December and February, CDC epidemiologist Alicia Budd told HealthDay.

“We’ve experienced high activity for the last three weeks,” Audrey Kunkes of the Georgia Department of Public Health told WSB-TV. “Last year was a very difficult influenza season. It’s too early to tell what this season will lead to. It’s tracking similar to what we saw last year.”

Nationwide, more than 164 million doses of the flu vaccine have been distributed since Nov. 30.

"We know that the vaccine is effective in preventing millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations," said Budd. "It's the best tool we have to prevent influenza."