Cures for the common cold: Sweating it out a load of crap?

[shaniac]

So I've had the Bellagio Flu for like 7 days now. I finally called the doctor, who made a housecall for $295 and managed to rope me in for an extra $100 on a somewhat meaningless shot of cortisone.

Anyway, prior to that I had tried my best to sit in the excellent steam room at the bellagio and sweat out my cold. I drank a lot of water during my sessions (1 a day for the last 3 days) and really sweated out. It didn't do anything. Why was I deluded into thinking it might? Is there anything to the notion of sweating out a cold or an infection?