The standard explanation for heightened flu/cold rates in the winter has always been that the unpleasant weather drives people indoors, where closer proximity leads to easy transmission of germs and viruses. I'd be curious to see how that theory interacts with this recent research suggesting our immune systems are boosted by warm temperatures. All things being equal, it might be better to be indoors than out...but all things are rarely equal. Would it still be better to be inside, quartered with potential carriers, or outside, where the temperatures may be more hospitable to the virus but where the people and things carrying the virus are bound to be fewer?

Either way, sign me up for a flu shot.