An outbreak of a drug-resistant “superbug” tied to bouncy castles in Ireland left 48 children and teenagers ill, with 15 requiring hospital care and four formally admitted, according to a newly published medical report.
Investigators linked the infections to an outdoor social event in eastern Ireland in autumn 2025, where young attendees spent extended periods playing on three inflatable bouncy castles.
Researchers writing in Eurosurveillance said almost everyone who became sick had been at the gathering — and all 47 infected attendees from the event had used the inflatables.
The bacteria responsible was MRSA, a hard-to-treat strain of staph that resists certain antibiotics and can trigger painful skin infections, sometimes spreading to more serious areas of the body.
Scientists found the outbreak strain also produced Panton-Valentine leukocidin, known as PVL, a toxin associated with skin and soft-tissue infections. The report noted that this particular strain is uncommon in Ireland.
Described by researchers as Ireland’s largest reported community-acquired MRSA outbreak, the cluster involved children between 5 and 16 years old, with a median age of 12. Boys made up the majority of cases.
The infections appeared quickly after the event.
Of the 48 cases, 34 developed symptoms within two days of the gathering, and some children showed signs of illness in less than 24 hours.
Reported symptoms included spots, pustules, redness, blisters and abscesses — pus-filled pockets that form when infection takes hold.
In the 27 cases where clinicians documented the infection site, the legs were most often affected, particularly the thighs.
A number of children also experienced fever, nausea or vomiting.
Most patients — 33 children — were treated by a general practitioner, while 15 were seen in a hospital emergency department or day ward.
Four were admitted to the hospital, with a median stay of four days. None required intensive care and there were no deaths.
Researchers said the gathering took place on a warm, humid and intermittently rainy day, and parents recalled that children playing outside were noticeably wet.
About 120 people were believed to have attended, roughly half of them children and teenagers.
The event included a barbecue, gazebo, candy station and several inflatable play structures, including three bouncy castles.
Many of the youngsters spent hours on the inflatables. Nineteen of the 47 cases who attended the party were reported to have spent at least four hours playing on them.
Parents described the play as crowded and physical, with children engaging in what researchers called “rough-and-tumble” activity.
Health officials believe that prolonged close contact — combined with wet conditions and possible scrapes or breaks in the skin — may have helped the bacteria spread.
