Fever Screening and Detection of Febrile Arrivals at an International Airport in Korea: Association among Self-reported Fever, Infrared Thermal Camera Scanning, and Tympanic Temperature

Cho, Kyung Sook; Yoon, Jangho

Despite some skepticism [4] [5] [6] [7] 12] , critics often agree that a border fever surveillance system can be useful for early detec- tion of imported infection [1, 2, 8, 9] . A recent study from Korea suggests that a fever over 37.8°C is the most accurate predictor for cases confirmed of pandemic H1N1/09 compared with the cases of influenza-like illness [6] . Similarly, Poutanen et al. [13] reported that all SARS patients in Canada had fevers and Tran et al. [14] documented that all avian influenza A (H5N1) patients in Vietnam had fevers over 38.5°C. These studies collectively imply that entry screening can effectively start with a detection of febrile passengers. In fact, Korea, along with Japan, has implemented the most rigid entry screening for the detection of febrile arrivals [2, 10] . Korea utilizes the self-reported health declaration form and thermal camera scanning to detect symptomatic arrivals. Febrile arrivals are subsequently identified as those with the tympanic temperature of at least 37.8°C [10] . In Taiwan, quarantine officers administer a symptom survey only for arrivals who were identified by the thermal camera scanning to have a temperature of 37.5°C or higher. Febrile arrivals, in turn, are defined as those with ear temperature of 38°C or higher [1] . Australia defines febrile arrivals as those who run a body temperature of 38°C or higher, but does not use the thermal camera scanning. Rather, trained nurses assess clinical symptoms and measure tympanic temperature [3] .