4 ms·

In Poland normal has always been considered 36.6C, which is 97.9F, which the article states as a proposed new normal.

by kolinko 4y ago

romwell 4y ago
Same in Russia, Ukraine, and other former USSR countries AFAIK
- throwaway290 4y ago
  37 degrees (98.6 F) could already get you off school if you're lucky...
  - mantas 4y ago
    36.9 with a sad face would do.. I mean mercury is past 9 mark so it's pretty much 37, right?
    - romwell 4y ago
      Being friends with the household cat was very important for such strategies ;)
      - mantas 4y ago
        Graphite is tasty though
voytec 4y ago
To add, < 38°C (100.4°F) is not considered a fever but subfebrile.
- albertopv 4y ago
  Sometimes I feel more sick having 37.5° than 38°, I don't know why.
  - voytec 4y ago
    Body temperature can be increased by several factors other than defense mechanism - cardio exercise and other activities that raise body's metabolic rate.
  - cperciva 4y ago
    Possibly because your 37.5 is from your body trying to reach 38 but not getting there yet. I'm just recovering from influenza right now and over the past two weeks I've noticed that pattern very clearly -- I feel worse when my temperature is 37.5 and rising than I do when my temperature is 39 and steady.
riffraff 4y ago
Same in Italy. 36-36.6 is considered normal, 37 is considered a mild alteration (or life threatening disease if you're a man).
- peoplefromibiza 4y ago
  that's for a very specific reason: improved accuracy. Let me explain: measurements were usually taken externally from armpits, using analog mercury thermometers, which results in temperatures lower than the actual one by ~0.5 degrees Celsius. If you read the instruction manual of modern digital thermometers, that are more accurate, it states that Oral Time: ~55 seconds Typical temperature interval: 35,5~37,5 °C Anal Time: ~45 seconds Typical temperature interval: 36,6~38 °C Armpit Time: ~70 seconds Typical temperature interval: 34,7~37,3 °C An example (PDF / Italian) https://www.doctorpoint.it/images/deplian/docp-pdf10956.pdf https://www.doctorpoint.it/images/deplian/docp-pdf10956.pdf The science has always been sound, even in Italy. My parents worked in healthcare, I never had the chance to skip school unless the thermometers said > 37.5 °C and after a double check with both palms on my forehead because I warmed it more than once on the radiator. The problem is Italian paranoid moms, especially from the South, believing in spooky superstitions.
  - jaclaz 4y ago
    Personally I strongly doubt that "modern" thermometers are in practice more accurate than good ol' mercury ones. The contactless infrared ones, but also the contact digital ones have been proved to provide "false measurements", the stated accuracy is usually +/- 0.2 C, but there are many (ambient) factors that may influence greatly the result, the good thing being that they are very fast. The gallium/galistan ones (1:1 replacement for mercury ones) are often hard to read (they are almost all of the "prismatic" kind) and more often than not they simply get "stuck", and they are very, very, slow.
    - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
      > Personally I strongly doubt that "modern" thermometers are in practice more accurate than good ol' mercury ones. they are not more accurate per se, the reading and calibration is. many cheap thermometer were printed with the temperature lines out of scale or shifted. they are also safer to use, it wasn't uncommon that the old ones broke while using them. Imagine the danger of a glass tube filled with mercury breaking while measuring the temperature anally or from the mouth.
kijin 4y ago
In Japan, a lot of people think that 36C is the norm. In South Korea, everyone thinks it has to be 36.5C. Either the average swings quite widely depending on your ethnicity and/or environment, or everyone is confused about how to round floating point numbers.

In Poland normal has always been considered 36.6C, which is 97.9F, which the article states as a proposed new normal.

romwell 4y ago

Same in Russia, Ukraine, and other former USSR countries AFAIK

throwaway290 4y ago
37 degrees (98.6 F) could already get you off school if you're lucky...
- mantas 4y ago
  36.9 with a sad face would do.. I mean mercury is past 9 mark so it's pretty much 37, right?
  - romwell 4y ago
    Being friends with the household cat was very important for such strategies ;)
    - mantas 4y ago
      Graphite is tasty though

voytec 4y ago

To add, < 38°C (100.4°F) is not considered a fever but subfebrile.

albertopv 4y ago
Sometimes I feel more sick having 37.5° than 38°, I don't know why.
- voytec 4y ago
  Body temperature can be increased by several factors other than defense mechanism - cardio exercise and other activities that raise body's metabolic rate.
- cperciva 4y ago
  Possibly because your 37.5 is from your body trying to reach 38 but not getting there yet. I'm just recovering from influenza right now and over the past two weeks I've noticed that pattern very clearly -- I feel worse when my temperature is 37.5 and rising than I do when my temperature is 39 and steady.

riffraff 4y ago

Same in Italy. 36-36.6 is considered normal, 37 is considered a mild alteration (or life threatening disease if you're a man).

peoplefromibiza 4y ago
that's for a very specific reason: improved accuracy. Let me explain: measurements were usually taken externally from armpits, using analog mercury thermometers, which results in temperatures lower than the actual one by ~0.5 degrees Celsius. If you read the instruction manual of modern digital thermometers, that are more accurate, it states that Oral Time: ~55 seconds Typical temperature interval: 35,5~37,5 °C Anal Time: ~45 seconds Typical temperature interval: 36,6~38 °C Armpit Time: ~70 seconds Typical temperature interval: 34,7~37,3 °C An example (PDF / Italian) https://www.doctorpoint.it/images/deplian/docp-pdf10956.pdf https://www.doctorpoint.it/images/deplian/docp-pdf10956.pdf The science has always been sound, even in Italy. My parents worked in healthcare, I never had the chance to skip school unless the thermometers said > 37.5 °C and after a double check with both palms on my forehead because I warmed it more than once on the radiator. The problem is Italian paranoid moms, especially from the South, believing in spooky superstitions.
- jaclaz 4y ago
  Personally I strongly doubt that "modern" thermometers are in practice more accurate than good ol' mercury ones. The contactless infrared ones, but also the contact digital ones have been proved to provide "false measurements", the stated accuracy is usually +/- 0.2 C, but there are many (ambient) factors that may influence greatly the result, the good thing being that they are very fast. The gallium/galistan ones (1:1 replacement for mercury ones) are often hard to read (they are almost all of the "prismatic" kind) and more often than not they simply get "stuck", and they are very, very, slow.
  - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
    > Personally I strongly doubt that "modern" thermometers are in practice more accurate than good ol' mercury ones. they are not more accurate per se, the reading and calibration is. many cheap thermometer were printed with the temperature lines out of scale or shifted. they are also safer to use, it wasn't uncommon that the old ones broke while using them. Imagine the danger of a glass tube filled with mercury breaking while measuring the temperature anally or from the mouth.

kijin 4y ago

In Japan, a lot of people think that 36C is the norm. In South Korea, everyone thinks it has to be 36.5C. Either the average swings quite widely depending on your ethnicity and/or environment, or everyone is confused about how to round floating point numbers.