Rapid Responses to:

PAPERS:
Jean V Craig, Gillian A Lancaster, Paula R Williamson, and Rosalind L Smyth
Temperature measured at the axilla compared with rectum in children and young people: systematic review
BMJ 2000; 320: 1174-1178 [Abstract] [Full text]
*Rapid Responses: Submit a response to this article

Rapid Responses published:

[Read Rapid Response] Temperature does not influence admission
Sunil Dasan, Kambiz Hashemi, Ramzi Freij   (5 May 2000)
[Read Rapid Response] Rapid Stabilization
Christine M. Craig   (2 May 2003)

Temperature does not influence admission 5 May 2000
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Sunil Dasan,
Specialist Registrar and Consultants in Emergency Medicine
Mayday University Hospital,
Kambiz Hashemi, Ramzi Freij

Send response to journal:
Re: Temperature does not influence admission

Dear Sirs

We read with great interest the paper by Craig et al. In their introduction they comment that in children and young people with fever this may influence a clinicians decision to admit. In our unit we carried out a two month audit of all self-referred children attending the accident and emergency department with fever and whether their temperature on arrival related to whether they were discharged from A&E, referred to the paediatric in-patient team and then discharged or admitted.

We found that in a total 148 patients there was no statistical significance between these three groups with respect to median temperatures.

We therefore disagree that the decision to admit is influenced by the recorded temperature at presentation.
Rapid Stabilization 2 May 2003
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Christine M. Craig,
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Personal Interest

Send response to journal:
Re: Rapid Stabilization

I found your article very interesting. I have three questions.

1. How do you stabilize the mercury thermometer?
2. Did you compare the mercury thermometer vs the digital thermometer in accuracy? If so, what were the results?
3. Have any studies been done comparing the accuracy of mercury thermometers with the new digital/electronic/nonmercury thermometers in the market today.

Thank You.

Competing interests:   None declared