The FeverScan forehead strip thermometer is commonly used at home. It is a small
re-usable plastic sheet that is held flat against the child’s dry forehead for 15 s. It has
six liquid crystal colour bars that turn green to indicate the following temperatures:
35, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 408C. It is calibrated to ‘offset’ the difference between surface
and core temperature to give a reading similar to an oral temperature. Robinson
Healthcare claim on the packet that it ‘gives a better estimate of temperature than
mercury thermometers used under the arm’. They defined fever as 388C and above.