October 30, 2005 --

Elizabeth Alvarez-KFOX Morning News Anchor/Reporter

The flu season is rearing its ugly head, so it is important to have a good fever thermometer on hand. In our Consumer Watch Report, we test some of the more popular ones, to see which works best.

The first thing Mark McEntee does when his children are sick is to take their temperature. Mark says it is a good way to know if they're fighting an infection.

"That way we know whether they can go to school or if we have to call the doctor," he said.

Consumer Reports used dozens of people as test subjects to see which thermometers performed best. Testers evaluated eight oral, ear and forehead thermometers ranging in price from 50 cents to $50.

"We verified the accuracy of a glass oral thermometer and used it to compare against the ones we tested," said Kim Kleman of Consumer Reports.

The more expensive ear thermometers take a reading in just one second. However, Consumer Reports found the readings might not be reliable.

"An ear thermometer has to be inserted at just the right angle to get an accurate reading and there is no way of knowing that you've got it right. So it's very easy to get an incorrect temperature," said Kleman.

The forehead thermometer from Exergen is slid across the forehead to get a temperature. Yet at $50, it is also pricey and was not especially precise. The $10 Accu-Beep digital thermometer from BD did the best job. It beeps when properly placed under the tongue and gives an accurate reading in sixty seconds.

If you want a thermometer reading even faster, Consumer Reports found two other very good performers that cost $13. They are the Vick's Comfort-Flex and Omron 20 Seconds Digital. Both thermometers will give a reading in 30 seconds or less.

For more helpful consumer information, visit Consumer Reports on the web.

http://www.consumerreports.org/

Consumer Reports is a fee-based Web site. Many of the articles require a subscription.