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CNN Live Today

'Daily Dose'

Aired August 12, 2003 - 11:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: One of Dr. Mom's classic tools of the trade may be on the verge of extinction. The mercury thermometer may be too risky given all the other devices available now.
We will turn to our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's here with today's "Daily Dose."

So what's the deal? You can't find them anymore.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you tell the doctor you are sick, one of the first questions you're going to ask, is have you taken your temperature? Do you have a fever? And this is the old standby. No question. The mercury thermometer has been around for a long time. It actually uses mercury to tell you're temperature. It's gotten a bad rap lately not just because it's hard to read -- these are pretty hard to read -- but also because of the mercury itself, if it breaks, can be problematic. Even that small amount of mercury. if it's inhaled, it could be a huge problem.

Take a look at some of the signs and symptoms, some of the problems that people can have from actually taking in too much mercury. We're talking about things from exposure can cause dizziness, slurred speech, brain damage. Even though it's rare, and it's important to point that out, Heidi, it can be very problematic, which is why 90 percent of pharmacy chains no longer carry them. Eleven states banning these mercury thermometers altogether.

So there are some alternatives. Let me just go through these pretty quickly. This is the digital thermometer.

COLLINS: We have one of those. We have one of those and one of those.

GUPTA: This is probably -- this is cheap, one of the more effective ones. What you'll know about this is you'd actually you put it in, you can put it in the mouth, you can put it underneath the arm, do a rectal temperature, which is very good for children. It takes about 60 seconds to get a temperature back, which is a long time for a sick child, as you probably know. They're squirming around. This is actually what's known as a forehead thermometer. This is a forehead thermometer. This is one of the newest ones. Do you have one of these as well?

COLLINS: Actually, I'm wrong. I do not have one of those.

GUPTA: This is pretty new and pretty neat. Basically, you have to put it in the room where you will actually take the temperature. It has to sit there for about 20 to 25 minutes. Basically, if I can just demonstrate, you just put it basically on somebody's forehead, hit the button, you get an answer back in about five seconds, five seconds, great for a kid who's lying around in bed, right on the forehead.

And finally, these have become one of the most popular, especially in hospitals. These are the gear. These use infrared. Essentially, I will do my own ear here. It's pretty technique sensitive. You have to get it exactly right into the ear. You don't have to push hard. You get a button back and you get a temperature back in about a second.

COLLINS: Yes, that's the beauty of that one. The 2-year-old does it on his own.

GUPTA: The problem with these two, pretty expensive, about 50 bucks a pop. This will be cheaper. The mercury one, I don't think we will see around much anymore. The campaigns for how bad mercury is, you will start seeing some of those advertisements right on television.

COLLINS: Quickly I want to ask you, what happens if you do all these temperature readings and they're off by like a degree or two?

GUPTA: That's a good question. You know, for adults it's not going to make a huge difference if you are 98 versus 99. Now If you are 100.5 versus 101.5 for a kid, that's a big difference. Doctors think about all sorts of different things that might be causing the fever. 101.5 they are thinking about different things than if it's 100.5. So you know, for the kids especially, you probably want to get it pretty accurate.

COLLINS: Absolutely. Dr. Sanjay, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Good to see you.

COLLINS: We will keep all of that in mind.

GUPTA: All right. Take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired August 12, 2003 - 11:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: One of Dr. Mom's classic tools of the trade may be on the verge of extinction. The mercury thermometer may be too risky given all the other devices available now.
We will turn to our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's here with today's "Daily Dose."

So what's the deal? You can't find them anymore.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you tell the doctor you are sick, one of the first questions you're going to ask, is have you taken your temperature? Do you have a fever? And this is the old standby. No question. The mercury thermometer has been around for a long time. It actually uses mercury to tell you're temperature. It's gotten a bad rap lately not just because it's hard to read -- these are pretty hard to read -- but also because of the mercury itself, if it breaks, can be problematic. Even that small amount of mercury. if it's inhaled, it could be a huge problem.

Take a look at some of the signs and symptoms, some of the problems that people can have from actually taking in too much mercury. We're talking about things from exposure can cause dizziness, slurred speech, brain damage. Even though it's rare, and it's important to point that out, Heidi, it can be very problematic, which is why 90 percent of pharmacy chains no longer carry them. Eleven states banning these mercury thermometers altogether.

So there are some alternatives. Let me just go through these pretty quickly. This is the digital thermometer.

COLLINS: We have one of those. We have one of those and one of those.

GUPTA: This is probably -- this is cheap, one of the more effective ones. What you'll know about this is you'd actually you put it in, you can put it in the mouth, you can put it underneath the arm, do a rectal temperature, which is very good for children. It takes about 60 seconds to get a temperature back, which is a long time for a sick child, as you probably know. They're squirming around. This is actually what's known as a forehead thermometer. This is a forehead thermometer. This is one of the newest ones. Do you have one of these as well?

COLLINS: Actually, I'm wrong. I do not have one of those.

GUPTA: This is pretty new and pretty neat. Basically, you have to put it in the room where you will actually take the temperature. It has to sit there for about 20 to 25 minutes. Basically, if I can just demonstrate, you just put it basically on somebody's forehead, hit the button, you get an answer back in about five seconds, five seconds, great for a kid who's lying around in bed, right on the forehead.

And finally, these have become one of the most popular, especially in hospitals. These are the gear. These use infrared. Essentially, I will do my own ear here. It's pretty technique sensitive. You have to get it exactly right into the ear. You don't have to push hard. You get a button back and you get a temperature back in about a second.

COLLINS: Yes, that's the beauty of that one. The 2-year-old does it on his own.

GUPTA: The problem with these two, pretty expensive, about 50 bucks a pop. This will be cheaper. The mercury one, I don't think we will see around much anymore. The campaigns for how bad mercury is, you will start seeing some of those advertisements right on television.

COLLINS: Quickly I want to ask you, what happens if you do all these temperature readings and they're off by like a degree or two?

GUPTA: That's a good question. You know, for adults it's not going to make a huge difference if you are 98 versus 99. Now If you are 100.5 versus 101.5 for a kid, that's a big difference. Doctors think about all sorts of different things that might be causing the fever. 101.5 they are thinking about different things than if it's 100.5. So you know, for the kids especially, you probably want to get it pretty accurate.

COLLINS: Absolutely. Dr. Sanjay, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Good to see you.

COLLINS: We will keep all of that in mind.

GUPTA: All right. Take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com