In a similar vein, it was hypothesized that the terrible influenza epidemic that hit the world right after WWI was incubated in large part by the discovery of ASPIRIN. - After the war, soldiers returned to their homes carrying the new discovery - the miracle medicine - aspirin. - Theory was that aspirin brought fever down; and fever was what zapped the virus at just the right time to render it harmless. - So, a temperature was our friend.