Measles outbreak in Bangladesh claims seven more lives; death toll rises to 738
Dhaka, July 5
Seven more children died from measles-like symptoms in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours until 8 a.m. on Sunday, raising the fatalities from confirmed and suspected measles in the country in 2026 to 738, local media reported.
The latest fatalities have been classified as suspected measles fatalities, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). With the latest fatalities, the total number of suspected measles cases in Bangladesh has increased to 645, while the number of laboratory-confirmed measles deaths stood at 93, United News of Bangladesh reported.
During the same period, 925 new suspected measles cases were reported in Bangladesh, raising the number of suspected cases nationwide to 105,618.
As many as 106 new confirmed measles cases were reported in Bangladesh, raising the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 12,632, the United News of Bangladesh reported.
Since March 15, a total of 88,844 patients with suspected measles have been admitted to hospital in Bangladesh. Among them, 85,122 people have recovered, according to the DGHS data.
Reports suggest that as the number of measles and suspected measles cases crossed the one lakh mark, infections continued to rise despite a vaccination drive covering 1.84 crore children in May.
In June, health experts cited the possible gaps in vaccination coverage in certain areas, along with weak infection control and prevention measures, as contributing factors. They warned that the onset of dengue season could further endanger children already infected with measles, increasing the risk of severe complications.
Public health expert Mushtuq Husain said that measles cases are failing to decline for two main reasons: vaccination coverage not reaching the 95 per cent threshold in all areas and inadequate adherence to infection prevention and control measures in hospitals and communities, Bangladesh's leading newspaper The Daily Star reported.
He said that isolation and quarantine had largely been ignored despite being important components of outbreak management. He said that the vaccination campaign target was largely set online from offices due to time constraints, resulting in inaccurate planning, The Daily Star reported.
"As a result, many children may have remained unvaccinated," Husain said as he emphasised the importance of launching a vaccination campaign targeting all children aged below five years and a revised house-to-house microplanning approach to reduce measles cases.
— IANS
Reader Comments
738 deaths is catastrophic, especially among children. The vaccination campaign covering 1.84 crore children sounds impressive, but clearly there are gaps in the microplanning as the expert pointed out. We saw similar issues during our polio campaigns in India - house-to-house coverage is the only way. Our ASHA workers do it well, Bangladesh could learn from that model.
The combination of measles and dengue season is terrifying. Our own healthcare system in parts of India struggles with dengue, but seeing Bangladesh face both outbreaks simultaneously is a tragedy. I hope the WHO and SAARC nations step up coordination. We're all in this together when it comes to infectious diseases.
The comment about "isolation and quarantine largely ignored" is concerning. We saw during COVID how important these measures are. But also, 85,000 people recovered, which shows the healthcare system is working despite the challenges. Still, 738 children lost - every single number is a family's tragedy. 😢
Let's not forget that Bangladesh has come a long way in public health. Their vaccination coverage was over 90% for many years. This outbreak shows how fragile these systems can be when there's even a small gap. India should take this as a warning - we need to keep our own vaccination rates above 95% and learn from what went wrong here. Proper microplanning matters a lot.
The planning was done from offices due to time constraints - that's a classic bureaucratic failure we see everywhere in South Asia. When saving children's lives, there should be no shortcuts. Hope the Bangladeshi authorities and international
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