Football fans with asthma: Hands off the World Cup horn!

Vuvuzela

The European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF) advises people with bronchial asthma against the use of the South African "vuvuzela"

It’s deafeningly loud and is already dividing the football world into two camps. When thousands of fans in a South African World Cup stadium play their "vuvzelas" at once, it sounds like an enormous swarm of hornets. For some, this noisemaker is the best way to cheer on their favourite team; others are bothered by the constant noise and by the fact that it completely drowns out the customary singing of fan songs. Asthmatic fans, whether at a World Cup arena or watching on an outdoor screen, should resist the urge to toot this horn, as their bronchial tubes may react sensitively to the strain.

"Repeated playing of the vuvuzela can lead to the temporary constriction of respiratory passages and to breathing discomfort," reports Prof. Dr. Karl-Christian Bergmann, lung expert at the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF). "In a test carried out yesterday, asthma patients who played just three short blasts on the instrument had access to 15% less air per second than before the test. In addition to staying away from the vuvuzela, football fans with asthma are advised to carry respiratory relief medication with them at all times."

The vuvuzela – a South African football symbol

Since the 1990s, this trumpet-shaped wind instrument has been as much a part of South African football as "the wave" is in Europe. Vuvuzelas can be up to one meter long, are usually made of plastic or brass and, when played alone, sound like the trumpeting of an elephant. The pitch is determined by the speed of the air and can be varied through adjusting the pressure of the lips. At the distance of one meter, the instrument can reach a sound level of about 120 dB, approximately the volume experienced at a rock concert.

<- Back