The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last month issued new guidelines for preventing health-care-associated pneumonia and other severe lower respiratory infections. The guidelines update and replace those issued by the CDC in 1981.

In addition to the latest pneumonia and respiratory infection recommendations, the guidelines expand the list of recommended antiviral treatments for influenza patients and recommend that potable water be kept at temperatures above 124 degrees Fahrenheit or below 68 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce the risk of Legionnaire's disease.

For more information, log on to www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_rr.html.

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