The inability of a temperature-sensitive pacifier to identify fevers in ill infants
L. Banco, S. Jayashekaramurthy and J. Graffam
Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Hartford.
We assessed the utility and accuracy of a temperature-sensitive pacifier in
screening for fever in ill children under 2 years of age. Of 189 candidates
for study, 83 (42%) did not use pacifiers, and of the 106 who did, 25 (24%)
could not sustain a suck for five minutes of direct observation. Among
those 81 children who could sustain five minutes of sucking, only two of 20
children with rectal temperatures above 100 degrees F (37.8 degrees C) were
correctly identified as febrile. Furthermore, seven of eight children with
temperatures of 102 degrees F (38.9 degrees C) or greater were incorrectly
identified as being afebrile. There were no false-positive fever
assessments in afebrile infants. The temperature-sensitive pacifier tested
in this study does not accurately identify fevers in most infants who are
shown to have fevers by rectal temperature determination. The use of this
pacifier for screening fever in ill infants cannot be recommended.
