Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A discussion of the origin of the myth that normal body temperature is 98.6, as well as a discussion of what temperature we should use to define the presence of a fever.
Select References (Sorry, some of these are behind a paywall):
Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich and the evolution of clinical thermometry: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8011836
Normal oral, rectal, tympanic and axillary body temperature in adult men and women: a systematic literature review: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12000664
Individual differences in normal body temperature: longitudinal big data analysis of patient records: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29237616
Decreasing human body temperature in the United States since the industrial revolution: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31908267
Using Smartphone Crowdsourcing to Redefine Normal and Febrile Temperatures in Adults: Results from the Feverprints Study: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6258625 (I didn't include discussion of this study specifically, but it's still interesting - and not paywalled!)
#fever #COVID #COVID19
A discussion of the origin of the myth that normal body temperature is 98.6, as well as a discussion of what temperature we should use to define the presence of a fever.
Select References (Sorry, some of these are behind a paywall):
Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich and the evolution of clinical thermometry: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8011836
Normal oral, rectal, tympanic and axillary body temperature in adult men and women: a systematic literature review: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12000664
Individual differences in normal body temperature: longitudinal big data analysis of patient records: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29237616
Decreasing human body temperature in the United States since the industrial revolution: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31908267
Using Smartphone Crowdsourcing to Redefine Normal and Febrile Temperatures in Adults: Results from the Feverprints Study: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6258625 (I didn't include discussion of this study specifically, but it's still interesting - and not paywalled!)
#fever #COVID #COVID19
