11 more children die of measles, symptoms

Eleven more children died of measles and measles-like symptoms across the country in the past 24 hours until 8:0 am on Friday, said the health authorities.
With the latest daily tally, the total death toll from measles and its symptoms reached 499 since mid-March, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) bulletin.
Of the total fatalities, 85 were confirmed as measles cases, it said, adding that 210 out of the total fatalities were reported in Dhaka.
Over 1,300 suspected and confirmed infections were recorded in the past hours. The total suspected infections rose 60,540 and confirmed infections to 8,329 since mid March, said DGHS.
Following the outbreak of measles cases across the country, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched 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 kept its immunisation programme on until no one is left, said the health ministry.
Bangladesh had made substantial progress towards measles elimination before this outbreak.
However, nationwide stock out of vaccine for 2024-2025 caused an increase in the number of susceptible children and contributed to the current outbreak, said WHO.
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.
Measles 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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