The falling grace of axillary temperatures.

This study compared axillary temperatures with either rectal or oral temperatures in 173 infants and young children. Axillary temperatures indicated a sensitivity of only 27.8% in their ability to detect fever in the febrile group. The age-old gold standard of estimating rectal temperature by adding 1 degree F to the oral and 2 degrees F to the axillary temperature was verified with afebrile group mean temperatures, but did not hold up with individual children's temperatures nor with febrile mean temperatures.