Earn $3,000 in National Flu Study

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There's a group of scientists at the National Institutes of Health who want to infect a large number of people with the H1N1 flu --- and pay them thousands of dollars each to do it.

That is to say, the NIH has put out a call for research subjects who agree to have the H1N1 influenza virus injected into their noses, in order to track how the immune system responds to the different phases of the illness.

For their time and effort, individual flu recipients will each receive $3,000.

According to a release by the health agency is looking for subjects between the ages of 18 and 50 who are in good health and agree not to use any tobacco products during the study. Further, females of "childbearing potential" must agree to make sure they don't get pregnant four weeks before and eight weeks after the virus is administered to them.

After they are given the flu, participants will be placed in quarantine, in an isolation ward during the extent of the research, until they are no longer infectious.

The participants, while in isolation, will go through a series of tests, particularly an echocardiogram and respiratory tests, the latter of which will include collecting nasal fluid samples that will be archived for future use.

The amount of the virus administered to participants is expected by researchers to cause symptoms that could be compared to gentle to normal flu effects.

However, according to the Centers for Disease Control, being infected by H1N1 still represents a level of risk, as more than 200,000 Americans are hospitalized for the flu annually --- and thousands die from those infections.

So far this year, the N1Hi strain has been linked to 147 deaths in California.

The NIH explains the study will be looking at whether a particular type of antibody in the blood effects whether someone gets the flu.

Study lead Matthew Memoli told the media the research will be used to develop future vaccines.

More information about participating in the flu study is available online at https://www.cc.nih.gov/recruit/ , emailing the NIH recruitment office at prpl@mail.cc.nih.gov  or calling 1-800-411-1222.