Wrong Thermometry and Wrong Temperature Can Cause Social and Economic Turmoil During a Flu Pandemic

Online –  In a just released report (October 17, 2009), according to Businesswire, a Yale University research group says:

As we head into a flu season where the 2009 H1N1 swine flu is expected to cause increased sickness, hospitalization and deaths across the U.S., something as simple as inaccurate body temperature measurements may lead to social and economic turmoil – and may cause many more deaths.

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Ircon® and Raytek® Infrared (IR) Systems Offer First Line of Defense That Can Help Identify Elevated Skin Temperature

SANTA CRUZ CA, USA — Fixed infrared scanners and thermal imagers from Raytek/Ircon, as well as handheld IR thermal imagers from its parent company, Fluke, can be used at airports, terminals, hospitals, schools, factories and public gathering areas to identify people with elevated temperatures resulting from an infectious disease, such H1N1 influenza A (aka, “Swine Flu”).

Individuals who register a fever can then be isolated for further evaluation to help prevent the spread of disease. continue reading »

ULIS’ IR camera customers will reap more availability and price benefits from capacity boost
Veurey-Voroize, France, – ULIS, has announced that the company has expanded the production capacity of its microbolometers from 50,000 to 200,000 units per year.

ULIS is augmenting its production capacity to meet growing trends for lower cost IR detectors used by trade professionals for application in thermometry. continue reading »

Noncontact IR technology from Raytek(r) and Ircon(r) can help identify elevated skin temperatures that can result from a viral infection: Effective Screening Tools for Swine Flu
SANTA CRUZ CA, USA – Fixed infrared scanners and thermal imagers from Raytek/Ircon, as well as handheld IR thermal imagers from its parent company, Fluke, can be used at airports, terminals, hospitals, schools, factories and public gathering areas to identify people with elevated temperatures resulting from an infectious disease, such H1N1 influenza A (aka, “Swine Flu”).

Individuals who register a fever can then be isolated for further evaluation to help prevent the spread of disease.

Lessons learned from the outbreak of SARS/Avian flu indicate that infrared (IR) noncontact temperature measurement can be an effective, easily deployed solution for identifying individuals who may have elevated skin temperatures. The human body and all objects emit infrared energy.

The Tokyo, Japan, airport is currently using IR thermographic imaging to screen large numbers of passengers arriving on international flights. Other countries, including among others, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Mexico, have instituted similar screening processes to aid in fever detection.
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Screening for Fever by Remote-sensing Infrared Thermographic Camera

by Chan Lung-Sang¹, Cheung Giselle, T. Y.Lauder, Ian J.Kumana, Cyrus R.Kumana,
¹ Lung-Sang Chan, PhD: Department of Earth Sciences; Giselle T. Y. Cheung, MPhil, and Cyrus R. Kumana, FRCP: Department of Medicine; Ian J. Lauder, PhD: Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Journal of Travel Medicine, Volume 11 Issue 5, Pages 273 – 279

Reprint requests: Professor C. R. Kumana, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 4/F Professorial Block, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.

Published Online: 8 Mar 2006

ABSTRACT

Background: Following the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, remote-sensing infrared thermography (IRT) has been advocated as a possible means of screening for fever in travelers at airports and border crossings, but its applicability has not been established. We therefore set out to evaluate (1) the feasibility of IRT imaging to identify subjects with fever, and (2) the optimal instrumental configuration and validity for such testing.

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Notting Hill VIC, AUSTRALIA — Australia relies on new health control measures and also on thermal imaging technology installed in major airports to detect suspected swine flu affected passengers.

But just how effective are those thermal scanners? The cameras were purchased several years ago. The old models were designed for industrial testing of overheated switchboards and their accuracy is +- 2 deg. C.

Typically you would have a suspected case of flu if a person has temperature of 38 deg. C. Now imagine what you will detect with such low accuracy… In addition to that, as far as we know those particular models had no alarm output.

Studies show that CCTV operators can comprehend only 5% of information after staring at a CCTV display for just 20 minutes. Combine that fatigue factor with +/-2 deg. accuracy and you can get an idea of the effectiveness of thermal scanning currently deployed in Australian airports.

Better technology exists now, it was developed after previous SARS scare specifically for health inspections.
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