Bagpipe player's death blamed on mold and fungi inside instrument

By the time doctors realized a 61-year-old bagpipe player was being sickened by his instrument, it was too late.

A case report published Monday in the journal Thorax shares the story of the man, who developed a dry cough that became progressively worse over seven years. He once was able to finish 10K races, but as his cough got worse and he was quick to become breathless, he could only walk 22 yards before needing to stop. The man was diagnosed with a rare lung disease called hypersensitivity pneumontitis, in which the spaces in the lungs between air sacs, airways, and blood vessels become inflamed, leading to breathing difficulties. The condition is caused by an allergic reaction to dust, mold, and fungi, and is typically triggered by household mold from water damage or exposure to birds, the Los Angeles Times reports; the bagpipe player wasn't around either. Drugs prescribed by doctors did nothing to help him, but a three month trip to Australia without his bagpipes did; while there he could walk more than six miles without stopping, the case report says.

When he returned to Britain and began his daily playing again, he was soon hospitalized. Someone thought it might be worth a shot to test his bagpipes for mold, and when they did they found a litany of fungi samples throughout the instrument, thanks to "the moist environment of bagpipes" that promotes "yeast and mold contamination." The authors said that two other musicians, a trombone player and a saxophonist, have reportedly been sickened by their instruments, but they recovered after using disinfectants and antiseptic to clean them. Sadly, the bagpipe player died several weeks after he was hospitalized, and never made it home to disinfect his bagpipes.

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