Children's ball pits are full of bacteria that can cause everything from bladder infection to heart disease, according to a new study.
The research looked at equipment in children's physical therapy centres - where the hygiene standards could be expected to be higher than public leisure facilkities.
It found more than 30 different kinds of bacteria - and discovered that some ball pits go days or weeks without being cleaned.
The research was carried out by scientists from the University of North Georgia and published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
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Outside of clinical settings the hygiene standards are reported to be much worse, according to The Mail .
In a Reddit post , one fast-food employee said when the balls in their bit looked dirty: 'we put them in my boss' pickup truck in netted bags. Then we just went through a carwash.'
The researchers say the balls taken from different levels and areas of the pits they tested are "often contaminated with visible dirt, vomit, faeces or urine.".
In the dirtiest pit one ball had 712,000 microorganism cells. Bugs found included Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylocccus hominis, Streptococcus oralis, and Acinetobacter Iwofii which can cause anything from sepsis and meningitis to endocarditis and pneumonia.
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Researchers also found non-human bacteria which can cause eye infections, blood infections and skin infections.
Researchers say it may be necessary to formulate a national cleaning strategy for ball pits.
