Manual Fever Check Is More Sensitive than Infrared Thermoscanning Camera for Fever Screening in a Hospital Setting during the COVID-19 Pandemic

J Korean Med Sci. 2020 Nov 16;35(44):e389. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e389.

Abstract

Between August 31st and September 4th 2020 in a tertiary care hospital in Seoul, the fever detection rate by infrared thermoscanning camera at the gates was 0.002% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.001%-0.006%) and that by manual fever check at the outpatient clinics was 0.02% (95% CI, 0.01%-0.03%) (P < 0.001). The difference strongly suggests that sensitivity of the thermoscanning camera in the market must be upgraded.

Keywords: Fever; Infrared Thermometers; Infrared Thermoscanner.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus*
  • COVID-19
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
  • Fever / diagnosis*
  • Hospitals
  • Humans
  • Infrared Rays
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Sensitivity and Specificity