Hot tots: current approach to the young febrile infant.

The diagnostic approach to the young febrile infant is a common dilemma for anyone caring for children. While historically these patients have been considered for automatic admission to the hospital, it seems prudent, because of the iatrogenic risks of hospitalization and in the interest of cost management, to identify those infants who can be safely, and effectively treated as outpatients. A clinical and laboratory process has been described to assist the clinician in this process. A thorough clinical examination accompanied by screening laboratory data will result in excellent results even in the youngest of our patients.