MEDICAL EXPERTS DIFFER OVER ACCURACY OF EAR THERMOMETERS

When it comes to taking your temperature, nothing is quicker than an ear thermometer. But is it accurate?

Some health-care providers say it is; others disagree.

Thermometers such as Thermoscan can take a temperature in as little as a second, which is particularly nice when you are trying to take the temperature of a crying baby.

It measures infrared heat generated by the ear drum and surrounding tissues and converts it into either an oral or rectal reading.

Southeast Missouri Hospital regularly uses ear thermometers in its emergency room.

"We use it for everybody, but we also take rectal temperatures for those that are seriously ill," said Pat Pennington, a registered nurse who manages the hospital's emergency department.

But St. Francis Medical Center no longer uses ear thermometers in its emergency room.

"We took them out two years ago," said Debbie Sutherland, family nurse practitioner with the hospital.

Sutherland said research shows they aren't reliable enough. "We use rectal thermometers on small children," she said.

Oral, digital thermometers are used with older children and adults, she said.

The digital thermometers also give quick readings, usually within 30 seconds as compared to three to five minutes for the old, mercury thermometers.

As a pediatric nurse practitioner, Nancy Mosley uses ear thermometers at the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center's primary care clinic.

But she doesn't rely on them exclusively. With seriously ill children, she takes a rectal temperature.

With newborns, she usually takes a reading from the armpit.

"I often retake temperatures if I have a child that looks really sick," she said.

Still, Mosley said the ear thermometers probably are adequate for home use.