使用体温枪防疫真的有用吗？

体温枪在专业人员使用的临床环境中是准确无误的。在危机时期，它们的准确性令人怀疑。 CARTER JOHNSTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

It has become an iconic image of the coronavirus outbreak in China: a masked official aiming what appears to be a small white pistol at a traveler’s forehead.

一名戴口罩的官员用看似白色小手枪的东西瞄准一名旅客的前额，这已经成了中国冠状病毒疫情中的标志性形象。

For weeks, this ominous-looking device has been deployed at checkpoints across China — tollbooths, apartment complexes, hotels, grocery stores, train stations — as government officials and private citizens screen people for fevers in an effort to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

几星期以来，中国各地的检查站——收费站、居住小区、酒店、杂货店、火车站——都部署了这个上去有些不详的装置，政府官员和平民负责筛查发热者，防止致命的冠状病毒传播。

Sometimes described as a “thermometer gun,” the device is equipped with an infrared sensor that can quickly measure surface temperature without making any contact with a person’s skin. In recent years, it has become an important tool for countries scrambling to contain viral outbreaks. It was widely used to try to slow the spread of SARS in China in the early 2000s and to curb the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a decade later.

这种设备有时被称为“体温枪”，它配备了一个红外传感器，可以在不接触皮肤的情况下快速测量体表温度。近年来，它已成为各国在匆忙中控制病毒暴发的重要工具。2000年代初，它被广泛用于减缓SARS在中国的传播，并在10年后用于遏制西非的埃博拉疫情。

But for all of its powerful sensing technology, the thermometer has ultimately proved to be an ineffective defense mechanism, according to medical officials and experts on infrared devices. Like the surgical masks that have become ubiquitous in China, thermometer guns tend to be unreliable outside carefully controlled health care settings.

但根据医疗官员和红外设备专家的说法，尽管这种体温计拥有强大的传感技术，但被最终证明是无效的防御机制。就像在中国随处可见的外科口罩一样，体温枪在严格控制的医疗环境之外往往是不可靠的。

测体温的人有时没有把体温枪凑到离额头足够近的地方。 

The thermometers determine temperature by measuring the heat emanating from the surface of a person’s body. Often, however, those wielding the tools don’t hold them close enough to the subject’s forehead, generating unusually low temperature readings, or hold them too close and get a high reading. The measurements can be imprecise in certain environments, like a dusty roadside, or when someone has taken medication to suppress a fever.

这种体温计通过测量人体表面散发的热量来确定温度。然而，通常情况下，使用工具的人并没有让它们足够接近受试者额头，因此产生了异常低的温度读数；有时他们把工具贴得太近，结果读数很高。在某些环境下，比如尘土飞扬的路边，或接受测试者服用了退烧药，这样的测量结果可能并不精确。

“These devices are notoriously not accurate and reliable,” said Dr. James Lawler, a medical expert at the University of Nebraska’s Global Center for Health Security. “Some of it is quite frankly for show.”

“这些设备出了名的不准确、不可靠，”内布拉斯加大学全球健康安全中心(University of Nebraska’s Global Center for Health Security)医学专家詹姆斯·劳勒(James Lawler)博士说，“坦率地说，有些只是为了做做样子。”

When he traveled in West Africa during the Ebola outbreak, Dr. Lawler was frequently tested with infrared thermometers outside hospitals or at roadside checkpoints. The results suggested he was dying of hypothermia.

埃博拉疫情爆发期间，劳勒在西非旅行时经常在医院外或路边检查站接受红外体温计检测。结果显示他体温过低，已经到了致命程度。

“My temperature was often 35 degrees Celsius or lower, which starts to become incompatible with life,” Dr. Lawler said. “So I’m not sure those were accurate.”

“我的体温读数经常是35摄氏度或更低，已经属于不符合生命指标了，”劳勒说。“所以我不确定这些数据是否准确。”

In theory, the thermometers, as well as more complex cameras that can also measure the heat coming off a person, allow local officials to quickly determine who may have a fever and then pull those people aside for further testing. So far, tens of thousands of people have contracted the coronavirus, and this week the death toll passed the 1,000 mark. Last month, the World Health Organization said temperature screenings could reduce “the risk of importation.”

从理论上讲，这种体温计和更复杂的摄像头可以测量人体散发的热量，让地方官员能够迅速确定谁有可能发烧，然后把这些人拉到一边做进一步检测。到目前为止，成千上万的人感染了冠状病毒，死亡人数到本周已经超过了1000人。上个月，世界卫生组织表示，体温检测可以降低“进口风险”。

人们对得克萨斯州红外摄像机公司生产的设备需求激增。 CARTER JOHNSTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

But on social media in China, people passing through the checkpoints have complained that the thermometers are producing unrealistically low readings in some situations and artificially high readings in others, like when a traveler is tested from inside a hot car.

但在中国的社交媒体上，通过检查站的人抱怨说，在某些情况下，温度计的读数低得不切实际，而在另一些情况下又高得过分，比如旅客在很热的车内接受检测的时候。

“You know the temperature gun is inaccurate,” wrote one person on Weibo, the Chinese social media service, after getting a reading from a guard. “I know the temperature gun is inaccurate. He also knows the temperature gun is inaccurate. But nobody says anything because it’s part of the process. Such formalism!”

“你知道体温枪不准，”中国社交媒体微博上的一名用户从保安那里拿到读数后写道。“我也知道体温枪不准，他也知道体温枪不准。但大家没有出声，依旧按流程一直在用。这就是典型的形式主义！”

Just because an infrared tool says someone has a high temperature does not mean the person is sick, let alone carrying the virus.

仅仅因为红外线工具显示某人体温高并不意味着这个人生病了，更不用说携带病毒。

“They could have been exercising, they could be taking certain drugs,” said Jim Seffrin, an expert on infrared devices at the Infraspection Institute in New Jersey. “A person who’s been trying to catch a flight in an airport for which they are late — they may have run down a concourse.”

“他们可能在锻炼，可能在服用某些药物，”新泽西州红外检测研究所(Infraspection Institute)的红外线设备专家吉姆·塞夫林(Jim Seffrin)说。“有人来晚了，在机场拼命赶上航班——他们可能是跑着进大厅的。”

The growing demand for thermometer guns and infrared cameras that can detect fevers has caused shortages across the world, from the center of the outbreak in Wuhan to a small supplier in Texas.

从疫情中心武汉到得克萨斯州的小供应商，对体温枪和能够检测发烧的红外摄像机的需求不断增长，已在世界各地造成了短缺。

A host of Chinese companies make thermometer guns, which have become more expensive as demand has increased from both government and private customers like schools and factories.

许多中国公司生产体温枪，随着政府和学校、工厂等私人客户的需求增加，体温枪的价格变得更加昂贵。

Alicn Medical (Shenzhen), a manufacturer in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, makes 2.5 million thermometer guns a year and is one of only a handful of companies in China that can achieve that level of production, said Mo Yingchun, its general manager. Still, raw material costs have surged and many workers can’t get around China’s outbreak containment efforts to show up for their jobs, meaning the company isn’t producing at full capacity.

深圳生产商爱力康的总经理莫迎春表示，该公司每年生产250万支体温枪，是中国仅有的几家能达到这种生产水平的公司之一。不过，原材料成本已经飙升，许多工人无法绕开中国的疫情控制措施来上班，这意味着公司没有满负荷生产。

“Even the governments are fighting for the products among themselves,” Mr. Mo said, noting that prices had climbed to three to five times the usual level. “Local governments want to guarantee their own needs first.”

“而且政府之间现在抢夺的也很凶，”莫迎春说。他指出，这些产品的价格已升至正常水平的三到五倍。“都是地方监管的这种先保自己的区域。”

Typically, he added, the company’s thermometers are used indoors to check on babies. “The thermometer guns are used only for quick screening and are not as accurate as traditional thermometers,” Mr. Mo said. “It was a small industry, and if it weren’t for the outbreak, it will not be put in the spotlight.”

他还说，通常情况下，该公司的体温计是用于在室内检查婴儿体温的。“红外额温枪的用途是快速筛查体温，但是精度上可能要比传统体温计差一点，”莫迎春说。“整个产业，如果没有疫情的排查，它只是一个很普通的品类，国家也没有关注过这个行业。”

Thousands of miles from the heart of the outbreak, a small technology supplier in Beaumont, Texas, has also been feeling the crush of demand. The company, Infrared Cameras, makes high-tech imaging equipment as well as infrared thermometers, which cost $25 apiece.

距离疫情中心数千英里之外，得克萨斯州博蒙特的一家小型技术供应商也感受到了大量需求。该公司名为红外摄像机(Infrared Camera)，生产高科技成像设备和红外温度计，每台售价25美元。

In a normal month, the company sells about 100 infrared cameras, according to its chief executive, Gary Strahan. Since January, the company has sold more than 1,000, supplying schools, cruise ships, factories, offices, hospitals and theaters in countries like China and South Korea.

公司首席执行官加里·斯特拉汉(Gary Strahan)表示，在平常，该公司的红外摄像机月销量约为100台。自今年1月以来，公司已将1000多台红外摄像机销往中国和韩国等国的学校、邮轮、工厂、办公室、医院和剧院。

红外摄像机的首席执行官加里·斯特拉汉说，他的设备误差很小，但市场上的许多产品就不那么可靠了。 CARTER JOHNSTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Mr. Strahan said he had been working every day from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. to keep up with the orders.

斯特拉汉说，为了跟上订单，他每天从早上4点一直工作到晚上10点。

“It’s the most overwhelming thing I’ve had to deal with in my life,” he said. “We’ve got people coming to us directly, saying: ‘Can you supply 1,000 cameras? Can you supply 2,000 cameras?’”

“这是我这辈子遇到的最麻烦的事，”他说。“有人直接来找我们，说：‘你们能供应1000台摄像机吗？你们能提供2000台摄像机吗？”

The company’s cameras and thermometer guns have a margin of error of 0.1 to 0.2 degrees Celsius, according to Mr. Strahan, who has been selling infrared cameras since the 1990s. But many products on the market are less reliable.

斯特拉汉说，该公司的摄像机和体温枪的误差范围在0.1至0.2摄氏度之间。但市场上的许多产品都不那么可靠。

During past outbreaks, some checkpoints have used cameras or thermometer guns that were designed for industrial purposes, like measuring the temperature of a vehicle, rather than finely calibrated medical tools.

在以前的疫情爆发中，一些检查点使用的摄像机或体温枪是为工业用途而设计的，比如测量车辆的温度，并不是精确校准的医疗工具。

“If you’re going to use the technology, you have to come at it with the proper equipment,” said Mr. Seffrin of the Infraspection Institute. “What we saw during the SARS outbreak is people were quick to pick up industrial instruments.”

“如果要使用该技术，则必须配备合适的设备来实现，”红外检测研究所的塞夫林说。“我们在SARS暴发期间看到的是人们迅速采用了工业仪器。”

斯特拉汉举着他的配置了红外摄像机和软件的平板电脑，显示实时热像图。 CARTER JOHNSTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Even a perfectly precise temperature sensor would not necessarily catch everyone carrying the coronavirus. Infected people can take several days to develop a fever, according to The New England Journal of Medicine. And travelers who already have a fever might take Tylenol to suppress their symptoms, sometimes in a deliberate effort to deceive the authorities. In Qinghai Province in China, the police are investigating one man on suspicion that he passed through checkpoints by covering up his ailments.

即使是一个非常精确的温度传感器也不一定能捕捉到每个携带冠状病毒的人。据《新英格兰医学杂志》报道，被感染的人可能需要几天的时间才开始发烧。已经发烧的旅行者可能会服用泰诺来抑制症状，有时是故意欺骗当局。在中国青海省，警方正在调查一名涉嫌隐瞒疾病而通过检查站的男子。

Still, Mr. Strahan said he hoped his company would help slow the spread of the virus, even if temperature screenings are unlikely to stop the outbreak altogether.

尽管如此，斯特拉汉说，他希望他的公司能够帮助减缓病毒的传播，即使进行温度筛查不可能完全阻止病毒的暴发。

“Because of the inaccuracy of a lot of the systems being sold out there, people are missed and then the infection spreads,” he said. “It’s a very real situation, and I feel like I’m right in the middle of it.”

“由于市面上销售的很多系统存在不准确，错过了一些人，然后感染蔓延了，”他说。“这是一个非常现实的情况，我感到置身其中。”

That was certainly the case on Thursday morning: At the company’s office in Beaumont, Mr. Strahan’s team was packing 300 thermometer guns into boxes, all of them bound for China.

周四早上正是如此：在公司位于博蒙特的办公室中，斯特拉汉的团队正在将300支体温枪装箱，全部运往中国。

本文作者David Yaffe-Bellany负责报道食品行业和一般商业新闻。他毕业于耶鲁大学，此前曾在得克萨斯州、俄亥俄州和康涅狄格州进行报道。

翻译：晋其角、邓妍