Thomas Glass and his colleagues at the University of Oklahoma (USA) recently published a study in the journal General Dentristry that showed that both brass and woodwind instruments are contaminated with a wide variety of bacteria and fungi , many of which are associated with infectious and allergic diseases, as well as the development of asthma.
The scientists analyzed 117 different parts (mouthpieces, internal chambers …) of 13 different instruments (clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, cornets …) belonging to boys and girls of a school musical band. The data reveals that six of them had been touched a week prior to the test, while seven had not been used in about a month. The study revealed that the instruments had 442 different bacteria, mainly of the staph genus, in addition to 58 fungi and 19 yeasts. The only way to prevent them from being transmitted from one musician to another is to clean them thoroughly (and not just the mouthpiece) after each use, experts say.
