Temperature and fever in the full-term newborn

Area of Science:

• Neonatal Medicine
• Pediatrics
• Clinical Thermoregulation

Background:

• Establishing accurate temperature norms for newborns is essential for early detection of illness.
• Fever in neonates can be a critical indicator of infection, necessitating careful monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define normal temperature ranges in neonates during the first nine days of life.
• To assess the predictive value of elevated temperatures for infection in newborns.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 501 neonates to establish temperature norms.
• Review of infant medical records from UCLA Medical Center (1979) for temperature data.
• Analysis focused on infants with temperatures exceeding two standard deviations above the mean high.

Main Results:

• Sustained fever was uncommon but a strong predictor of neonatal infection.
• Fever was rarely the sole indicator of infection in infants.
• Isolated instances of elevated temperature readings were not associated with infection.

Conclusions:

• Sustained fever is a significant sign of infection in neonates.
• Single high temperature readings should not be solely relied upon to diagnose infection.
• Defined temperature norms aid in identifying potentially infected newborns.