Fever in the first eight weeks of life.

Sixty-one febrile infants in the first eight weeks of life were evaluated for serious, treatable illness. Infants with bacteremia could not be distinguished from non-bacteremic infants by height of fever, white blood cell count, absolute number of juvenile or mature polymorphonuclear leukocytes, or the presence of a focus of infection (meningitis excluded). The examiners' overall assessment ("clinical judgment") correctly identified eight of the nine infants with bacteremia as not being "well"; one 2-week-old with group B streptococcal bacteremia was "missed" clinically, This points up the limitation of clinical judgment in assessing febrile infants in the age group studied and supports an aggressive approach in the management of very young febrile infants.