Tis the season to douse yourself in Lemsip, invest in Kleenex shares and affix your wrist to your clammy forehead in a permanent gesture of despair.
Yes, it's flu season - a time of high temperatures, headaches, sore throats and generally feeling dreadful.
Some of the HuffPost UK team will be getting flu shots next week but we'll be sparing a thought for how the denizens of yesteryear coped...