“An interstitial pneumonia precipitated very quickly“, explained the Roman hospital, San Camillo, where Maestro Peppe Vessicchio died on the afternoon of November 8. This is what Bagnoli has to do with it. Here, on the western border of Naples there was Ilva and then Italsider, the large factory that provided work in this wonderful area overlooking the sea, and then Cementir. Today they are all skeletons.
Today, less than nothing remains of the old industrial glories. However, there are still many respiratory diseases.
And Peppe Vessicchio himself, a few years ago, in an interview given to Corriere della Sera, told of his origins in Bagnoli, where his father worked as an official of the former Eternit.
I was born and raised in Bagnoli… Asbestos everywhere. We played with asbestos tubs as children.
His words described well an industrial Italy in which the health danger was invisible but present everywhere.
What is interstitial pneumonia
The term “interstitial pneumonia“does not indicate a single disease, but a group of pathologies that affect the pulmonary interstitium, i.e. the tissue that supports and surrounds the alveoli and capillaries. When this tissue becomes inflamed and thickens, it becomes more difficult for oxygen to pass into the blood, and the lungs lose elasticity.
The causes
The origins can be multiple:
The symptoms
The disease often begins silently. The first signs are shortness of breath during exertion, dry cough, persistent tiredness and weight loss. Over time, breathing becomes increasingly difficult until it results in respiratory failure. When listening to the chest you can hear the typical “Velcro gasps”.
The possible correlation with asbestos
It has long been known that asbestos can cause asbestosis, a form of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis due to the buildup of respirable fibers in the lungs. In recent years, however, research has highlighted that the distinction between asbestosis and idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IPF) may not be so clear-cut.
A review of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) emphasizes that “exposure to asbestos can cause pathological and radiographic changes indistinguishable from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis” (CDC, Asbestos and Interstitial Lung Disease2024). While an analysis published in Frontiers in Medicine in the same year adds that “Most cases of interstitial lung disease result from an etiological factor, such as exposure to asbestos or other harmful substances”.
There is therefore no certain link, but a biological plausibility: those who have breathed asbestos fibers for years can develop a chronic inflammatory response in the lung, which over time or after viral infections can evolve into interstitial fibrosis.
The story of Peppe Vessicchio is not only that of a great musician, but also the testimony of a generation raised among the contradictions of industrial Italy: progress on the one hand, unaware exposure to enormous risks on the other. Today, as medicine continues to investigate the links between asbestos and lung diseases, his words sound like a gentle but powerful warning: remembering that past serves to protect the future.
And perhaps, in his music, there is also a way to give voice to those who have breathed too much silence and too much dust.
