The Southeast is the largest region in the nation with widespread flu activity.

That's according to the latest numbers released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC officials are predicting a bad flu season because of H1N1 outbreaks, so some hospitals across Georgia are making it madatory for their employees to get the seasonal flu shot.

Emory Healthcare and Grady hospitals in Atlanta, and the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta are just a few of the hospitals requiring all employees get vaccinated against the common flu.

Matt Grove with Grady Hospital says the mandate there is necessary.

"We've had pretty poor results in the past when it was a voluntary measure. Last year we only had about 30% of our employees choose to get the vaccine."

Grove says Grady's already seeing more flu cases than normal.

The seasonal flu shot does not protect against swine flu. But once the H1N1 vaccine becomes available, hospital officials say they’ll strongly recommend their staff get it.

Tags: hospital, swine flu, H1N1, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu, Grady, Emory Healthcare