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?:abstract
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BACKGROUND: Body temperature control is a frequently used screening test for infectious diseases, such as Covid-19 (Sars-CoV-2). We used this procedure to test the body temperature of staff members in a hospital in Tyrol (Austria), where the Covid-19 disease occurred in March 2020. The hospital is located in a mountain area at 995â¯m above sea level with low outdoor temperatures during early spring season. Under these conditions, we analyzed whether forehead temperature control offers a sufficient screening tool for infectious diseases. METHODS: Forehead temperature of 101 healthy male and female employees was measured with an infrared thermometer directly after entering the hospital (0â¯min), followed by further controls after 1â¯min, 3â¯min, 5â¯min and 60â¯min. We also tracked the outside temperature and the temperature at the entrance hall of the hospital. RESULTS: Complete data of body temperature were available for 46 female and 46 male study participants. The average forehead temperature measured directly after entrance to the hospital was the lowest (0â¯min) 33.17⯱ 1.45⯰C, and increased constantly to 34.90⯱ 1.49⯰C after 1â¯min, 35.77⯱ 1.10⯰C after 3â¯min, 36.08⯱ 0.79⯰C after 5â¯min, and 36.6⯱ 0.24⯰C after 60â¯min. The outside temperature ranged between -5.5⯰C and 0⯰C, the indoor temperature had a constant value of 20.5⯰C. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that forehead infrared temperature control is not an appropriate tool to screen for infectious disease directly at the entrance of a building, at least during early spring season with cold outdoor temperatures.
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