Fever

Newborns to 3 months

Fever in the first 3 months of life is an emergency. During this time a rectal temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher should trigger an immediate medical visit. Children less than 2 months old with a single temperature of 100.4 or higher should have a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) with culture, CBC, blood culture and catheterized urine culture. Often these children will require hospitalization or injected antibiotics while awaiting the culture results.

3 months and up

For children over the age of 3 months, a fever is a temperature of 101 degrees or higher.  Oral or rectal temperature readings are the best and the "gold standard" and used in research.  For practical reasons, we often will take axillary (under arm) temperatures.  Many people will add to axillary temperatures to compensate for it's inaccuracies.  I prefer my patients to report the number and how they took the temperature.

The general rule of thermometers: the fancier the thermometer the less accurate.  We do not own an ear, forehead or temporal thermometers.

Updated April 2010 by
Dr. Gordon, Orlando Pediatrician