Very good point that gets lost in a lot of this. Flu like illness, is what makes most people sick every year. Most suspected "flu" cases are NOT any sort of influenza virus at all, but they all get lumped together anyway. Either the media is too lazy to differentiate, or they just don't care. I know the industry doesn't mind, it helps sell product.
Going back to college, and No i don't have any link or reference, but I remember reading something back then that said the average person will get an actual influenza infection between 2 - 4 times in their entire life. Don't quote me, it's been a long time since I've read that, but it's what I remember.
It wouldn't surprise me though as when they finally do lab confirmation of a lot of cases, they most times come back with no influenza infection at all, but something else. That's if they even do a lab test.