Kalibo airport battles H1N1 via forehead thermal strips

MANILA, Philippines — At Kalibo International Airport in Aklan, thermal strips, instead of thermal scanners, are being used to detect symptoms of the A/H1N1 (swine flu) among arriving passengers. Online news site The News Today (www.thenewstoday.info) reported that airport personnel hand out the thermal strips for the passengers to place on their foreheads. Kalibo’s airport, the gateway to world-famous Boracay Island, is the only airport in the Western Visayas region servicing international flights. There are four international flights to and from the airport every week, during Wednesdays and Saturdays. Dr. Lino Gregorio of the Bureau of Quarantine said the strips will help them detect influenza-like symptoms, particularly high fever. Passengers will place these strips on their forehead upon arrival. A change in color indicates high body temperature, which in turn indicates fever. Gregorio said they opted not to install thermal scanning devices because the terminal building is not air-conditioned. Thermal scanning machines may register high temperatures even if the passengers do not have fever, as the area is not air-conditioned, he explained. Gregorio said another method of checking a person's temperature is to stick a probe into the ear, but this is "quite intrusive and inconvenient." The Kalibo local government earlier called on the national government to install thermal scanning equipment at the airport because of the A/H1N1 scare. - GMANews.TV