(CNN) It's widely accepted that the flu and the torrent of uncomfortable symptoms that come with it are to be avoided at all costs.

But a few selfless souls have signed up to get the the infection so that one day, perhaps none of us will have to endure it ever again -- and they get paid, too.

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases are infecting willing subjects with influenza A (the infamous H1N1 virus, which has caused pandemics ) and closely monitoring their symptoms to better understand how the virus works and how to control it.

For a handsome sum of up to $3,300, 80 adult participants across four research facilities will receive a nasal spray with the virus and spend at least one week at an inpatient facility until they've stopped "shedding" the virus -- that is, potentially infecting other people.

As volunteers cough, heave, sleep and shiver, researchers hope to glean how levels of preexisting flu antibodies will impact the duration and severity of participants' flu symptoms.

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