Mothers claim children contracted skin infection from bounce house

CAPE CORAL, Fla.- Seven children are fighting an aggressive skin infection their mothers say was contracted from playing in a rental bounce house at a birthday party.

“Every child that was in the bounce house has it,” Alayna Sanchez said. “It’s very contagious and they are spreading all over their body.”

The birthday party full of fun and games turned into a nightmare for Stephanie Foraker’s kids.

“The blisters were getting bigger,” Foraker said, “oozy…gross.”

Foraker claims the children got the infection Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from a rental bounce house.

Marybeth Saunders, medical director for infection prevention and epidemiology at Lee Memorial Health System, says MRSA is a painful bacterial infection.

“The bacteria gets into that area and can have a chance to multiply and cause an area of infection,” Saunders explained, adding MRSA is usually spread through skin-to-skin contact.

Sanchez, who held the party in her backyard, said “I feel horrible as a parent that all these children are in pain.”

She’s now demanding a refund from the company she used to rent the bounce house.

“She wouldn’t take responsibility for the staph infection,” Sanchez said. “I want a refund and an apology.”

But Yanney Rojas, the owner of Best Deal Party Rental, says she’s not at fault, adding Sanchez signed the contract taking responsibility for the bounce house.

“I did my job. I put a bounce house on time, everything was fine with the bounce house. Why do you want me to return the money?” Rojas said.

The Department of Health in Lee County said it’s difficult to pinpoint where the kids contracted MRSA. Health officials say the kids may have spread it to each other or may have gotten it from the house, but that would require further investigation.

Medical professionals add the best way to avoid the bacteria is to make sure children wash their hands and cover cuts and scrapes.