Feeling sick and bored, I thought it might be "fun" to try the NHS Direct Self-Diagnosis site. And guess what? After a few (quite sensible) yes/no questions, the diagnosis was

"you probably have a viral infection"

and the first bullet point for advice was

"Drink more fluids"

Gosh. It's spooky. That really is like visiting a GP. Well, we could save the NHS a lot of money by downsizing/offshoring them.

And for the benefit of thegreenman and addedentry, the site also recommended paracetamol, though admittedly not the gargling (or googling) thereof.