Nearly 100-thousand people die each year from hospital infections according to the Centers for Disease Control.  That's why health care workers use alcohol-based hand gels to kill bacteria, when they can't wash their hands.  But a new study finds that alone may not help.

The study found even though doctors and nurses at a Nebraska hospital doubled their use of hand gels, it had no effect on the rate of infections in patients.

At Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse, health experts say multiple factors cause infections.  In addition to encouraging staff to use hand-gels, they also want patients to use them as well. 

"This study was just looking at the use of alcohol hand gels by healthcare workers.  But patients have a lot of intimate contact with their devices and their body and their surgical wounds.  They play a role in preventing infections also," says Marilyn Michels, Gundersen Lutheran Infectious Disease Specialist.

The doctor conducting the Nebraska study also pointed to other factors.  He says rings and too long fingernails that are hard to clean, to poor handling of catheters and unsanitized treatment areas could play a role.

The results of the study appears in the January issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.