Randolph I think it's time we reclaimed the word "influenza", because it sounds a whole lot scarier than "'flu". My thinking behind that philosophy is based on the fact that we're about to face another respiratory infection pandemic like SARS (the virus, not the tax department). And, quite frankly, influenza is scary. 5% of the human population died in the Spanish 'flu pandemic (around 50 – 100 million people), and 20% were infected, between 1918 – 1920.
An article (see related source) tells how wearing masks is not as effective as, say, washing your hands and avoiding contact with infected people. I know it sounds crazy, but fewer people would die all over the world if they washed their hands more often.