Measles Outbreak Continues to Claim Lives in Bangladesh

(MENAFN) Bangladesh reported seven additional measles-related deaths on Wednesday, pushing the overall number of confirmed and suspected fatalities since the outbreak began in mid-March to 601.

According to health authorities, 90 of those deaths have been medically verified as resulting from measles.

The country also registered over 1,250 new suspected cases during the last 24 hours. This raised the cumulative number of suspected infections to 83,763, while laboratory testing has confirmed 9,191 cases.

With a population of roughly 175 million people, Bangladesh has faced challenges in quickly verifying infections due to limited availability of testing kits.

According to reports, several factors have contributed to the spread of the disease and reduced immunity among children, including prolonged gaps in vaccine coverage, malnutrition affecting mothers and children, and low levels of exclusive breastfeeding.

The Health Ministry stated that more than 18.45 million children have received measles vaccinations, surpassing the original goal of immunizing 18 million children. Vaccination efforts are still ongoing across the country.

Epidemiologist Dr. Mushtaq Hussain said, "micro-planning is needed to ensure no children remain outside vaccine coverage."

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