Highest single-day toll hits 17 again

As many as 17 children died of measles and measles-like symptoms in the past 24 hours until 8:00am on Monday, raising the total number of confirmed and suspected fatalities to 545 since mid-March.

Bangladesh earlier logged another daily measles death toll of the same number as 17 on May 4, according to the data of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Of the total deaths, 231 were reported in Dhaka. Deaths are being reported due to a centralised healthcare system. Patients have to rush to Dhaka for advanced treatment and life support for the minors.

The DGHS also recorded 1,200 new suspected and confirmed infections during the period, taking the total suspected infections to 64,940 and confirmed cases to 8,719 nationwide.

In response to the measles outbreak rapidly spreading across the country, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been conducting an emergency measles-rubella vaccination campaign, targeting children aged 6 months to 5 years, since April 5.

The government has already vaccinated 18.43 million children since April and will continue the immunisation programme until no one is left, said the health ministry. Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, which affects individuals of all ages and remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally. It is usually a mild or moderately severe disease.

However, measles can lead to complications such as pneumonia, diarrhea, secondary ear infection, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), blindness, and death.

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