SOUTH ASIA – A measles outbreak in Bangladesh has claimed the lives of more than 500 children, marking the country’s deadliest surge of the preventable disease in decades, government data showed on Saturday.
The death toll reached 512 on Saturday, with 13 children dying in the previous 24 hours alone, according to health department figures compiled since 15 March.
Hospitals in the capital Dhaka have been overwhelmed with cases and established dedicated wards to accommodate patients, but face a critical shortage of intensive care beds.
The South Asian nation has launched a mass vaccination drive to combat the outbreak, reaching 18 million children, according to UNICEF Bangladesh representative Rana Flowers. However, the health department said the full impact of the vaccinations would take months to materialise.
UNICEF said on Wednesday that gaps in immunisation worsened during and after the upheaval of a 2024 uprising that toppled the country’s autocratic government, leaving large numbers of children unprotected.
Measles is highly contagious, spreading through coughs and sneezes, and has no specific treatment once contracted. Complications can include brain swelling and severe breathing problems. While the disease can affect anyone, it is most common among children.
Health workers say the worst-affected children are often malnourished and from low-income families. Many had missed routine vaccinations or had weakened immunity due to poor nutrition, or both.
The health department’s death toll follows government claims that the outbreak is now contained, noting a decline in cases in several previously hard-hit areas.
Most cases recorded in Bangladesh during the current outbreak have been among children aged between six months and five years. Doctors say many of the children arriving at hospitals are already critically ill.
“Though measles is highly contagious, a healthy baby with no complications can survive with minimal medication,” said Ainul Islam Khan, a paediatrician at Dhaka’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital.
“Here, most children came to the hospital with respiratory distress and infections in the eyes, throat and lungs.”
UNICEF’s Flowers stressed the need to improve vaccination programmes and increase funding for health facilities, surveillance and data systems in the future.
