Seven more die with measles-like symptoms in 24 hrs

Measles-related child deaths continue to escalate across Bangladesh, as seven more children died with symptoms consistent with the highly infectious disease in 24 hours until 8.00am on Sunday, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The latest daily measles situation report, released on Sunday, said four of the deaths occurred in Dhaka, while one child died in Sylhet and two others in the Barishal and Khulna divisions.

During the same 24-hour period, 925 children developed measles symptoms, while laboratory tests confirmed measles infection in 106 children.

The latest fatalities have pushed the total number of child deaths linked to measles and measles-like symptoms to 738 since March 15. Of the total figure, 645 children died after developing measles symptoms, while 93 more children died after their infections were confirmed by laboratory tests, the DGHS said.

Health officials said 105,618 children have developed measles symptoms since March 15. During the same period, 12,632 children were confirmed to have measles, taking the total number of affected children to 118,250.

The DGHS data also show that some 88,844 children have been admitted to hospitals with measles symptoms since March 15. Of them, 85,122 have already been discharged after receiving treatment. The outbreak began early this year.

Bangladesh had almost eliminated large-scale measles transmission over the past several years through routine immunisation. During the last seven years, annual confirmed infections never exceeded 400, and there were virtually no reported deaths.

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