Lunch Time Talk

              Title: Screening for Fever Detection in Airport Passengers

Author: Prof. Francis J Ring , Prof. Anna Jung

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 Abstract:

Problems of screening large numbers of people travelling through airports during a fever pandemic were realised in 2003 during the SARS outbreak. Following publications from the Singapore Standards Office, the International Standards Organisation ISO has called an international committee to address the issues of fever screening with infrared thermal imaging cameras (ISO TC121). Several issues are being addressed. First the specification of an imaging system capable of the best possible radiometric accuracy is nearing completion. Recommended tests and standards for international use have been specified, and essential protocols for rapid but accurate facial imaging are described. There are many challenges to meet if this technique is to be employed. First, there is a lack of data on facial temperatures in health and fever. Recent experimental studies on children in Warsaw have provided us with normative data for the inner canthus of the eye, as the most stable site for this purpose. Second, the SARS surveys used 38⁰C as a cut-off for fever; it is possible that other fevers related to Avian influenza H5N1 may manifest at 37.5⁰C and above. Third, legal constraints may require an airport screening service to record all images with associated visible photographs for a certain period. This will create a very large storage and database issue. In addition, all suspected patients will have to undergo clinical examination, and at least temporary barring on further travel. It has been suggested that 24hr monitoring of body core temperature could be required in a pandemic for any borderline cases, in order to prove fitness for air travel. It remains unclear if the envisioned scheme could work on a world-wide basis, because the cost of round the clock imaging may prove too much for countries with weak economies.