Child deaths linked to measles near 1,000 in Bangladesh

Bangladesh health authorities on Saturday reported four more child deaths linked to measles and measles-like symptoms in the past 24 hours, pushing the total death toll to 991 since mid-March.

Of the fatalities, 100 were confirmed measles deaths after one more child died in the past 24 hours, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) under the Health Ministry.

A total of 464 deaths were recorded in the Dhaka division alone.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported 843 new cases involving measles-like symptoms and 74 new confirmed infections, bringing the totals to 163,105 symptomatic cases and 19,641 confirmed cases.

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Since mid-March, 143,214 infected children have been admitted to hospitals across the country. Of them, 137,921 recovered and were discharged, according to the DGHS.

The densely populated South Asian country of around 175 million people has been struggling to contain the outbreak amid low vaccination coverage, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Bangladesh historically had herd immunity against measles but has lost it in recent years due to declining vaccination coverage, the WHO said.

Since April 5, the Health Ministry has immunized nearly 19.48 million children through a special program in addition to routine vaccinations.

A new special vaccination campaign, in addition to routine immunisation, will begin nationwide toward the end of this month, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain said Friday amid the continuing measles outbreak.