Temperature check for sepsis

Melissa Mead, whose son William died in 2014 after a 111 call handler failed to spot he had sepsis. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

The failure of the NHS telephone 111 service to diagnose sepsis (aka septicaemia) in a baby is really not surprising (Report, 27 January).

Related: What is sepsis? A guide to the disease after NHS criticised for failing to spot illness

The transition from a routine ailment to lethal sepsis is notoriously sudden. Peripheral measures of temperature (mouth, armpit) are unreliable and may be positively misleading as indicators of core body temperature.

The most reliable measurement of core temperature is by rectal thermometer. This item costs about £12 and all parents should buy one. Most parents could easily be trained to use one correctly. Giving such training could, for instance, become a routine duty of midwives and health visitors.

This is especially relevant for pre-verbal children but, in principle, it is applicable to anyone who might suffer from sepsis.
Kevin Donaldson
Coventry

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com