Measles Kills More than 500 Children in Bangladesh as Outbreak Swamps Hospitals
UNICEF said the vaccination campaign has reached 18 million children as hospitals in Dhaka report shortages of intensive care beds.
- On Saturday, health officials reported that a measles outbreak in Bangladesh has killed 512 children, marking the country's deadliest surge in decades.
- UNICEF reported on May 20 that immunization gaps widened during and after the 2024 uprising that toppled the government, leaving large numbers of children unprotected.
- Between March 15 and May 23, health authorities identified 62,507 suspected cases and 8,494 laboratory-confirmed infections, with most cases among children aged six months to five years.
- UNICEF country chief Rana Flowers stated this week that a mass vaccination campaign has reached 18 million children, though the health department warns the full impact will take months.
- Hospitals in Dhaka remain overwhelmed with patients, while Dr. Ainul Islam Khan, a paediatrician at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, noted that complications from measles remain severe.
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28 Articles
At least 13 children died in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours from measles-related symptoms, bringing the cumulative deaths (86 confirmed and 426 suspects) to 512 since the outbreak of measles in March, official sources reported this Saturday.
In Bangladesh the measles virus has been rampant for a few weeks. Now the threshold of 500 deaths is exceeded. Victims are only children.
Mass protests and government collapse in 2024 interrupted vaccination programs. Now Bangladesh struggles with the consequences
Devdiscourse
WTVBSuspected and confirmed measles deaths top 500 in Bangladesh
Children under five are most vulnerable to severe infection and death, particularly those who have not been vaccinated or have only been partially immunized, health officials have said. The World Health Organization said last month declining routine immunisation coverage had increased the risk of a large-scale outbreak.
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