Scientists say that while aspirin, paracetamol and ibuprofen make the person taking them feel better by lowering their temperature, they may also make the bug easier to spread, Daily Mail reports.

As a result, more people will catch it.

The Canadian researchers calculated that tablets taken to ease the sweats and chills of flu are to blame for at least one in 20 cases of the illness – and many deaths.

They say that rather than taking pills to lower their temperature, people with flu should stay at home, get plenty of rest and have some hearty soup.

The researchers, from McMaster University in Ontario, first gathered together studies on the biology of flu.

They calculated that in a typical winter in North America, the pills are to blame for 5 per cent of cases and more than 1,000 deaths.

Lead researcher, David Earn, said: «No one likes to feel miserable but it turns out that our comfort might be at the cost of infecting others».

‘People often take – or give their kids – fever-reducing drugs so they can go to work or school. They may think the risk of infecting others is lower because the fever is lower. In fact, the opposite may be true: the ill people may give off more virus because fever has been reduced.’