If you’re taking your temperature because of the coronavirus, 98.6 isn’t the normal body temperature anymore

The Seattle Times ^ | March 17, 2020 at 2:34 am | Kate Thayer

[steve86]

CHICAGO — For centuries, 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit was said to be the average, normal body temperature. It’s not.

[TXnMA]

96.8 here, also...

[MV=PY]

You should get your cancer screenings on time.

Finding out too late can kill you.

There is no upside to procrastination.

- Advice from a cancer survivor.

[NonValueAdded]

So the conclusion is we need to lower the threshold of when a fever starts?

[jimfree]

I’ve always run somewhere between 97.4 and 98.0.

[Fido969]

Conservation of energy at work.

[Williams]

Get the tests.

[bert]

Me too

although it varies under “normal” conditions 97+ is not unusual

[dp0622]

Thank you for sharing. one of the few things that are certain is we are all going to be introduced to that friend we haven’t met yet. That is sobering

[Bonemaker]

My wife panics at 98.7.

[USS Alaska]

During the 70s I owned a bar/rest/hotel and every time I came out of the walk in cooler, I thought my body temperature was lower.

Conversely, when I was in the kitchen, with all of the grills and ovens going full blast, I always felt warmer.

Kinda funny how that worked:)

PS: I noticed it was warmer when the sun was out and colder in the snow and ice of winter.

[I want the USA back]

No one is stuck on that number. We were taught that number in school, and there was never a word about it from the medical establishment.

Question: since it varies by gender, when a man becomes a woman, does it go up or down?

[ladyrustic]

My temperature is almost always somewhere just above 96 and I’m cold a lot. It always worries me and I keep having the doc check my thyroid just to be sure it’s working properly. Sometimes my body temp dips into the 95’s when I feel cold. Doc says thyroid level is fine, and now this article says lower temps can be normal, so I guess I will just stop worrying over it. Thanks for posting.

[dp0622]

You’re onto something big there! :)

[Arlis]

Interesting....my normal temp is 97.8.....has been for many years......if I’m 98.6 I have a fever.........

[jughandle]

I don’t even check mine, unless there seems to be a problem. And even then sometimes..

[mware]

I’ve been 97.6 for at least the last 7 years.

[reed13k]

“...as 98.6 degrees, but it has also dropped since the 1970s. The findings indicate that Americans’ average, normal body temperature has dropped about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, based on their birth year, to 97.8.”

98.6-0.05 is not 97.8. to get 97l.8 it would need to be -0.5.

[freebird5850]

More cowbell!

[Mr. Lucky]

Darned mean, If’n you ask me.

[TexasGator]

CDC now has 100.0r subjective.