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Bangladesh’s measles outbreak continues to worsen, with six more children dying with measles or measles-like symptoms and 85 new infections confirmed in the past 24 hours, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
In a statement issued on Thursday, the DGHS said four of the latest deaths were reported in Dhaka Division and the remaining two in Sylhet Division.
Since March 15, a total of 96 people have died from laboratory-confirmed measles, while 764 others have died with measles-like symptoms, taking the overall death toll linked to the outbreak to 860.
Dhaka Division has recorded the highest number of deaths with measles symptoms at 334, followed by Sylhet (117), Rajshahi (91), Mymensingh (71), Chattogram (61), Barishal (45), Khulna (32) and Rangpur (13).
The health authorities said 733 people with measles symptoms sought treatment at hospitals across the country during the 24-hour period ending at 8:00 am on Wednesday, with 645 patients admitted.
Among those admitted, 227 were in Dhaka Division, 211 in Chattogram, 74 in Sylhet, 56 in Barishal, 33 in Mymensingh, 18 in Khulna, 16 in Rajshahi, and 10 in Rangpur.
Since March 15, 133,638 people with measles symptoms have sought hospital treatment nationwide. Of them, 115,879 were admitted, while 111,587 have since recovered and been discharged.
The DGHS also said laboratory tests conducted over the past day confirmed 85 new measles infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases since March 15 to 16,740.
Health officials noted that not everyone hospitalised with measles symptoms or who dies with suspected measles undergoes laboratory testing. As a result, the number of confirmed cases does not fully reflect the true scale of the outbreak.
