Four children were hospitalized after an unusual outbreak of a drug-resistant strain of staph at an outdoor gathering in eastern Ireland.
DUBLIN — Forty-eight children and teenagers developed skin and soft-tissue infections after an outdoor gathering in eastern Ireland where bouncy castles were heavily used, according to a newly published investigation into what researchers described as the country’s largest recorded community MRSA outbreak.
The outbreak occurred in August 2025 but received wider attention after researchers published their findings in 2026. Of the 48 cases identified, 33 children were treated by general practitioners and 15 attended a hospital emergency department or day ward. Four of those children were admitted to a hospital. No deaths were reported, and researchers said none of the hospitalized children required intensive care.
The illnesses were caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a type of staph bacteria resistant to some commonly used antibiotics. Laboratory testing found that confirmed cases carried the same strain, known as t016-ST22-MRSA-IV. The strain also produced Panton-Valentine leukocidin, or PVL, a toxin associated with some serious skin and soft-tissue infections. Researchers described the strain as rare in Ireland.
The outbreak investigation identified 22 confirmed cases and 26 additional possible cases involving children ages 5 to 16. The average age was about 12. Symptoms most often affected the legs, particularly the thighs, and included spots, redness, blisters and other skin infections. Twelve patients also experienced symptoms such as fever, nausea or vomiting. Most children developed signs of infection within two or three days of the gathering, although the timing varied among patients.
About 120 people attended the outdoor community event, which included three bouncy castles. Researchers found that 47 of the 48 affected children had attended the gathering, and investigators linked the cluster most strongly to prolonged play on the inflatable equipment. Nineteen affected children were reported to have spent at least four hours playing on the castles, while others also used them for long periods. The only infected child who had not played on the inflatables had close contact with an exposed child afterward.
Researchers said the conditions at the event may have made transmission easier. Parents described warm, humid and showery weather, and many of the children became wet while taking part in crowded, physical play. Such activity can involve close skin contact and minor scrapes that may provide a route for bacteria to enter the skin. Investigators found no other shared exposure that provided a stronger explanation for the unusually concentrated cluster.
The study did not establish through environmental testing that MRSA was physically present on the bouncy castles. Investigators did not swab the inflatable surfaces after the outbreak was identified, in part because time had passed and testing would not necessarily have proved where transmission began. The findings instead relied on the pattern of cases, laboratory results and interviews with the children’s families. Researchers therefore described the outbreak as associated with bouncy castle use rather than claiming direct laboratory proof that a particular surface caused each infection.
Public health officials became aware of the cluster after a 12-year-old boy was hospitalized with an MRSA skin infection and reported attending the gathering nine days earlier. Doctors subsequently learned that about 25 other children connected to the event had developed unusual skin infections. An outbreak control team involving Ireland’s Health Service Executive, Children’s Health Ireland and the National MRSA Reference Laboratory was formed to investigate the illnesses and limit further spread.
Officials contacted families who had attended the gathering and assessed whether children had developed symptoms. Patients received medical treatment and measures intended to remove MRSA colonization, while household contacts were also included in infection-control efforts. The operator of the bouncy castles was advised not to use the equipment again until it had been adequately cleaned and disinfected. A local primary school attended by many of the affected children was also given infection-prevention guidance.
The researchers said the outbreak stood out because of its size, rapid onset and unusual setting. Community-associated MRSA outbreaks have previously been reported in places involving prolonged close contact, including sports teams, child-care settings and prisons. The authors said transmission connected to bouncy castle play had not previously been described in scientific literature as the mechanism behind an outbreak of this scale.
All of the affected children ultimately recovered, according to published reports on the investigation. Researchers said the episode shows how prolonged close physical contact can create conditions for community MRSA transmission, while emphasizing that their findings concern a specific outbreak and do not establish that inflatable play equipment generally carries MRSA.
Author note: Last updated September 15, 2026.