BIRN: Health crisis in Durrës undermines parents' trust in the education system

When Durrës' education system faced a health crisis in December 2024, hundreds of parents and students felt unsafe and misinformed.

Within a short time, two students from the “Leonik Tomeo” and “Kushtrimi i Lirisë” schools were infected with acute meningitis – a dangerous disease that infects the membranes of the brain and spinal cord. As a result, a 17-year-old high school student from the “Leonik Tomeo” school lost her life.

The situation caused panic among parents and students, while the delayed response of educational and health institutions worsened the situation.

"When I took my child to school, trusting the school, he found himself alone in an empty classroom," recalls Oriola Tufa, mother of two children, one of whom studies at the "Kushtrimi i Lirisë" school.

"We expected a reaction from the school and Public Health authorities as well as the disinfection of the facilities, but the information was kept secret. As a parent, I demand responsibility and care for the health of my children and every other child," she added.

The main demand of the parents was the disinfection of the schools, but this was only achieved in four of them and at a time distance from each other. Instead of reacting, the health and education authorities tried to minimize the parents' concern, giving limited and vague statements. This only increased the feeling of uncertainty and worsened the situation, leading to a halving of school attendance for weeks.

Data obtained by BIRN shows that the situation could not be managed due to a lack of communication and cooperation between education institutions and local government institutions.

Lindita Muhedini, head of the Economic Education Center in the municipality of Durrës, stated at the time that 13 public kindergartens with dormitories and 5 nurseries were disinfected, due to the significant lack of children. But she added that the Center did not receive any request from education and health officials to disinfect schools, despite the continuous request from parents. As a result, only four schools were disinfected.

The lack of a quick response increased panic among parents and temporarily emptied schools of students.

"I kept my daughter at home for 15 days just for this reason. Parents on social media said that disinfection had been done, but we haven't seen any evidence. There is more a lack of information and cooperation with each other," said the father of a primary school student at the "Kushtrimi i Lirisë" school.

"If the administration doesn't respond, we as parents will do it. We are making every effort for the children," he added.

Another parent, Qerime Rudi, told BIRN that to ease the worry, they were forced to vaccinate their children and change their granddaughter's school.

"We vaccinated the children because we were afraid. We couldn't bring them to school. We changed our granddaughter's school out of fear and lack of measures. All the parents were asking for it, but we didn't understand why the disinfection wasn't done," Rudi added.

The principal of one of the disinfected schools told BIRN on condition of anonymity that the situation returned to normal only after she insisted on disinfecting the school.

"There were over 50% absences in the classroom. I didn't hesitate as soon as they told me about disinfection. This was a measure that calmed everyone down and restored normality to the learning process," she said.

Acute meningitis is a rare disease and according to the Institute of Public Health, seven cases have been identified over the last five years, of which only five have been confirmed.

Referring to the case in Durrës, the IHP says that all appropriate measures were taken and that the cases were limited.

"...In Durrës, only 2 cases of meningococcal meningitis have been reported and there have been no other cases reported, while viral infections have been present as in every season," stated the IHP.

But for mental health workers, the lack of transparency and responsiveness has undermined parents' trust in educational institutions.

"When a child is diagnosed with this disease, the parent community reacts with panic and a sense of helplessness. Bacterial meningitis is infectious, requiring a rapid response from educational and health institutions. Above all, information and action," says Armela Bejko, clinical psychologist.

"The refusal to disinfect school premises not only fueled social revolt, but also worsened the psychological impact on children and parents," she added, stressing that poor management of the situation aggravated the situation more than necessary. Reporter.al