News Research
Respiratory Health for Wind Instrument Players
Mould and bacteria can sometimes accumulate inside wind instruments, posing a risk to respiratory health when repeatedly inhaled while playing. Based on data from German orchestras, the research team at the Institute of Musicians’
Medicine (IMM) and their colleagues in Hanover, Würzburg/Kassel, Regensburg, and Sydney, Australia, found that wind instrument players reported asthma and/or a diagnosed respiratory disease more frequently than non-wind instrument players, even when other risk factors such as smoking were taken into account. Furthermore, the vast majority of wind instrument players—86% of woodwind players and 94% of brass players—reported never disinfecting their instruments, and cleaning and drying habits were highly inconsistent. The authors recommend that wind instrument players incorporate regular hygiene measures, particularly instrument disinfection, into their standard practice routines, and call for a stronger integration of evidence-based hygiene practices into wind instrument pedagogy.
The research paper is open access and can be downloaded and read here for free: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-54267-9
