After a case of hepatitis A in cycle 1 of the Albert Wingert primary school in Schifflange, Schifflange mayor Paul Weimerskirch criticised the ministry's lack of communication. The children's parents and municipality officials were not adequately informed of the incident, according to Weimerskirch.
In answer to the accusations, the ministry of health's sanitary inspection office referred to standardised procedures that were rigorously adhered to in this case.
On 6 February, the ministry of health was informed of a case of hepatitis A at the Schifflange primary school. The head of the division, Dr. Pierre Weicherding, explained that the school health department was first informed of the incident, which then passed the information on to the mayor of Schifflange.
All of this took place on the morning of 6 February. At noon, officials went to the school and took the necessary steps to prevent the disease from spreading. Employees at the school were informed of the incident and parents who came to pick up their children from school received a letter telling them what they should do going forward.
While the mayor of Schifflange confirmed this sequence of events, he also criticised the way things were handled and the "weak" communication from the ministry of health. Mayor Weimerskirch wrote a letter to the parents, saying that while he was responsible for the institutions in his municipality, he was notified late and contacted via a third party. In the meantime, procedures were followed that he would not have supported had he known about the incident at the time. The ministry for health instructed cleaning personnel to disinfect the affected areas, but mayor Paul Weimerskirch pointed out that the cleaners were never asked whether they were vaccinated against the disease and hadn't been informed on how to properly disinfect contaminated areas.
The mayor of Schifflange said that it is important to learn from such incidents in order to improve the procedures that are already in place. According to Weimerskirch, the incident in Schifflange showed that there are many areas that could be improved and many questions that still need answering, such as which parents should be informed or who is responsible for disinfecting affected areas.
CSV MP Marc Spautz, who is an council member in the commune of Schifflange, talked of chaotic leadership during the incident. In a parliamentary question, he wanted to know of the Minister for Health Étienne Schneider whether it would not make sense to inform municipalities of the standard procedures that are in place for such cases.
