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

In Korea, during the global SARS outbreak of 2003, thirteen quarantine stations nationwide adopted infrared thermal camera scanning to identify febrile arrivals. Since then, the process for the detection of febrile arrivals has been reinforced as follows. First, arrivals passing through airports, ports, or border lines are inspected by infrared thermal cameras, and also passengers are required to complete and submit health declaration forms, called self-reported health questionnaires. Then, ear (or tympanic) temperature-which has been the protocol since 2010 -is checked for individuals who have any self-reported symptoms or those who are detected by infrared thermal scanning. Individuals with a fever above 37.8°C are interviewed by quarantine officers or doctors, and their ear temperature and thermal camera temperature are measured again. Finally, laboratory testing is used on final suspected cases to confirm patients with an infectious disease [10] . The entire procedure therefore relies on the effectiveness of initial fever detection by infrared thermal camera and health declaration forms.