In a Gojo-funded study published in 2000 in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 32 nurses used Purell for two weeks for an average of about twice an hour during their workdays.

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"We can't say for sure how much of that benefit is down to the yoghurt and how much they are down to a whole range of infection control procedures that the hospital has in place such as the deep cleaning programme, the bare-below-the-elbow programme, and the increased isolation procedures, " Ms Heyes said.

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As evidence, it cited an article published in Infection Control Today, as well as a letter from a Bard manager to a hospital and a posting by Premier on its Web site.

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