How to Track Personal Body Temperature for Early Fever Detection

## Tips for Monitoring Your Body Temperature

- Take your body temperature **daily for a week** at different times (morning, afternoon, evening) to establish your **personal baseline**.
- Recognize that **normal temperature ranges vary** between individuals; an early morning temperature above **37.2°C (99.0°F)** or late afternoon above **37.7°C (99.9°F)** typically indicates a fever.
- **Low-grade or borderline fevers** can go unnoticed without knowing your baseline, which is especially important in contexts like COVID-19, where an increase of **1.1°C above your usual** can signal illness.
- If your usual temperature is, for example, **36.2°C**, a reading of **37.3°C** might still be within "normal" but could actually indicate a fever.
- Use the **same thermometer type** throughout (oral, axillary, tympanic, rectal) to maintain consistency; **internal measurements** (rectal, tympanic) tend to be more accurate.
- When measuring orally, wait at least **15-20 minutes after eating or drinking** before taking your temperature.
- **Thermometer quality matters**—a **tympanic thermometer** like Braun from Germany can provide more reliable results and help catch fevers that cheaper thermometers might miss.
- Remember, there is **no consensus on a universal fever threshold**; knowing your personal baseline is key to effective monitoring. For example, a temperature of **99°F** prompted testing and confirmed COVID-19 in one case.