It pays to catch the flu at this U.S. hotel

Test subjects get $3,500 to be exposed to virus

ST. LOUIS— Guests can get paid $3,500 (U.S.) to stay at a St. Louis hotel for up to 12 days, with catered meals, as long as they sign up to be exposed to the flu virus.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a research unit at St. Louis University is testing the effectiveness of flu vaccines by paying volunteers to stay at its Salus Center.

Participants will be given a flu shot or a placebo, and then receive a dose of a flu virus through nasal spray.

The volunteers will then be observed for flu symptoms, such as fever, runny nose, sneezing or coughing. The Extended Stay Research Unit will repeatedly test participants’ blood and mucus for signs of the virus.

The university spent about $350,000 to convert 24 hotel rooms at the Salus Center into a quarantined medical unit, equipped with reading nooks and game tables for socializing.

Dr. Daniel Hoft, director of the university’s Center for Vaccine Development, said “you can learn a lot more, a lot faster” about whether vaccines work to prevent infection by controlling the study environment.

The 2017-18 flu season was one of the most severe on record. About 134,000 infections and 279 deaths were reported in Missouri. The seasonal flu shot was between 10- and 15-percent effective against the strains, Hoft said.