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Bangladesh Measles Toll Nears 1,000 as 4 More Children Die
(MENAFN) Bangladesh's measles crisis edged closer to a grim milestone Saturday, with health officials confirming four additional child deaths in the previous 24 hours and pushing the outbreak's cumulative toll to 991 since mid-March.
One of the latest fatalities was a laboratory-confirmed measles case, bringing the total number of confirmed measles deaths to 100, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), operating under the Health Ministry, reported. Dhaka division alone has accounted for 464 of the deaths recorded nationwide.
The ministry also logged 843 new cases showing measles-like symptoms and 74 additional lab-confirmed infections over the same period, lifting the running totals to 163,105 symptomatic cases and 19,641 confirmed infections.
Hospitals across the country have admitted 143,214 children since the outbreak began in mid-March, according to DGHS figures. Of those, 137,921 have since recovered and been released.
Bangladesh, a densely populated nation of roughly 175 million, has struggled to contain the surge amid persistently low vaccination coverage, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The agency noted that the country had previously maintained herd immunity against measles but lost that protection in recent years as vaccination rates slipped.
In response, the Health Ministry has vaccinated close to 19.48 million children through a special immunization drive launched April 5, on top of routine inoculation efforts. Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain said Friday that a fresh nationwide vaccination campaign — supplementing the existing routine program — will launch toward the end of this month as the outbreak continues.
One of the latest fatalities was a laboratory-confirmed measles case, bringing the total number of confirmed measles deaths to 100, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), operating under the Health Ministry, reported. Dhaka division alone has accounted for 464 of the deaths recorded nationwide.
The ministry also logged 843 new cases showing measles-like symptoms and 74 additional lab-confirmed infections over the same period, lifting the running totals to 163,105 symptomatic cases and 19,641 confirmed infections.
Hospitals across the country have admitted 143,214 children since the outbreak began in mid-March, according to DGHS figures. Of those, 137,921 have since recovered and been released.
Bangladesh, a densely populated nation of roughly 175 million, has struggled to contain the surge amid persistently low vaccination coverage, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The agency noted that the country had previously maintained herd immunity against measles but lost that protection in recent years as vaccination rates slipped.
In response, the Health Ministry has vaccinated close to 19.48 million children through a special immunization drive launched April 5, on top of routine inoculation efforts. Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain said Friday that a fresh nationwide vaccination campaign — supplementing the existing routine program — will launch toward the end of this month as the outbreak continues.
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