Body temperature checks prior to entering a public, closed or risky area seem to be the standard in many parts of the world. I had to make an emergency dentist appointment a couple of weeks ago and they took my temperature before the dentist would see me. This is after they already asked me if I had one, and I said “no”.
Is the premise that people would lie about if they have a fever, or that some people just don’t know? I don’t get fevers very often (maybe once every 5 years), but I always know when I have even a slight fever. Is this not the case for everybody?
I get very specific and unique telltale symptoms, such as a dull pain over the eyes and unusual heaviness throughout my head, combined with traditional cold symptoms of a headache and sore throat. Now, if I’m feeling perfectly fine (like 99% of the time) and still getting fevers, then I concede that there’s no way I would know.
Since the definition of “fever” for these purposes seems to be 100.4, I’m not at all sure I would know I had a temperature of 100.4 without a thermometer. I do get telltale symptoms with a higher fever ( like 101.x or 102) but I don’t think I’ve ever taken my temperature and gotten a result between 100.4 and 101.
And people lie. I had someone come into y office lying at the screenings by saying he didn’t have fever or cough*, right up until the day he got his positive test results for the test he had done three days before and which wouldn’t have been done if he didn’t report symptoms.
Worse yet, he was responsible for screening others.
Yeah, there may be some loose correlation between “feeling feverish” and actually having a fever, but I’m not very good at guessing. If I feel sick, I often take my temp, and sometimes it’s high and other times it isn’t.
My husband uses the term “feverish” to describe what I think I call “sick”. He never takes his temp, but is confident that he has a fever. This drives me crazy for some reason.
I don’t know if I’ve ever had a fever in my adult life. I wouldn’t know what it feels like, and I don’t own a thermometer.
And, by the way, thermometers are another item that can’t be found in stores. I’ve checked 8 stores, and there are none (3 were the same pharmacies, 3 weeks apart). I ordered one from Amazon, it took 3 weeks to get here and the battery was dead, and pharmacies don’t carry that type of button battery. I have to try Walmart tomorrow and hopefully they have that battery or thermometers.
Huh, my daughter just bought a working thermometer at our local drugstore because she didn’t like the old mercury one that I use. There must be regional variation.
Not be be insulting but did you check to see there was a battery block in the thermometer? May items are shipped with the battery in place but a small plastic shield to ensure it doesn’t engage.
Years ago, I helped organize my mother’s 80th birthday party. And went to the party. And had a good time; feeling a little fuzzy, but I thought that was from lack of sleep.
Afterwards, somebody, probably my mother, said I really looked a bit off and ought to take my temperature. Which I did.
102ºF.*
It’s very possible to have a fever and not know that you’ve got a fever.
– if I am feeling wonky, I’ll usually take my temperature. Sometimes I’ve got a fever; sometimes I don’t. I can’t tell just from the way I feel.
*whatever it was that I had, IIRC nobody else caught it.
Huh? Most people feel at least intermittently hot when they run a significant fever. People might not recognize they have a low grade fever because that they don’t have the general malaise and intermittent chills often associated with higher fevers. They ascribe feeling hot to an overheated room or the weather or hot flashes.
A few weeks ago I woke up with terrible vertigo, and when it didn’t go away within an hour, took my temp which was 38.7.
And it stayed in the mid to high 38 range for two weeks, despite the vertigo stopping by the end of the first day. I didn’t feel feverish or otherwise unwell during that time, and yes, I did get tested for Covid 19 (negative).
When I’ve had fevers previously I’ve definitely known about it, but this time, if I hadn’t been checking, I wouldn’t have had a clue.
When I get a fever, I usually get the chills. Your body temperature sensing and regulating cells get out of whack, and start you doing more thermogenesis because they think you are too cool. When sick, you usually feel too cold when your temperature spikes, and too hot when your temperature is running low.
Lots of folks find this confusing.
This has been my experience with recent illnesses. 99.8 I noticed right away because I felt too hot, but the 102 I missed for several hours because it made me feel cold and shaky. It was only when my teeth started chattering while in a hot shower that I realized that I wasn’t cold, I had chills.