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Cleaning of a flute

Question
My daughter is 7 years old, has CF and is learning to play the flute at the moment. The flute is made of wood, the upper part is made of synthetic material. What do we have to take into account concerning cleaning??? Is wiping of the outside enough, should one rinse the synthetic part and let it dry or only dry it with a cloth from the inside??
Many thanks for your advice
Answer
Dear questioner,
in case of a wind instrument it is generally possible, that via the (forced) breathing technique illness-causing germs could reach the airways and possibly the lungs. In case of playing the flute, the risk is for sure markedly reduced due to the relatively small ventilated air volume compared to wind instruments with a larger volume.
Into consideration come especially germs from the room air, germs from the airways of the player, that come to the instrument while using it, respecitvely germs, that contaminate the instrument from the outside. Concrete investigations on this are not known to me and also no recommendations on an optimal hygienic cleaning, either.
Overall, I guess the risk to be very small and wish your daugher much fun in playing the flute.
In case to avoid transmission, the instrument should of course only be used by your daughter and should not be switched. The clean usage and a dry, protected storage is in general an important aspect. As many potential germs for CF patients are humid germs, the drying is an effecitve method, to get rid of possible contaminations (also of the own flora). An additional cleaning of the synthetic part, at least in certain intervals, e.g. with a disinfectant is in my opinion a sensible measure. Simple rinsing, as far as possible mechanical cleaning with a subsequent drying is for sure also suitable to get rid of germs. In here, there is in my opinion the greatest risk, that secondary via the used water or the cloth germs could be transmitted, that have not been there before. The most security from the hygienic standpoint is the usage of sterile water (or boiled water) and e.g. sterile cloths. If this is practicable, however, is also a personal decision. If this effort is justified respectively necessary, is unfortuntely not clear, as the thoughts are very theroretical as the risk is judged in my opinion to be very small.
Best regards,
Michael Hogardt
06.03.2016