Bangladesh Measles Outbreak Claims Eight More Lives; Death Toll Climbs to 432

DHAKA:
At least eight more people have died from measles and measles-like symptoms in Bangladesh, taking the total number of confirmed and suspected deaths to 432, local media reported.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the deaths were reported in the 24 hours leading up to Wednesday morning.

Amid a rapidly worsening measles outbreak in the country, the number of confirmed and suspected measles cases crossed 60,000 during the same period.

The DGHS recorded 1,489 suspected cases in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of suspected infections to 53,056. Additionally, 126 confirmed cases were recorded, raising the overall count to 7,150, Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Daily Star, reported.

Health experts have described the situation in Bangladesh as one of the largest measles outbreaks in recent years.

Public health expert Mushtaq Hossain said that delays in timely vaccination efforts had resulted in the rapid spread of measles cases.

“Had a proper tier-based treatment system been followed during the outbreak, the mortality rate could have been significantly reduced,” Bangladeshi daily The Dhaka Tribune quoted Hossain as saying.

He further said that once cases surpass the 50,000 mark, a public health emergency should be declared, adding that the lack of such a move had undermined coordinated response efforts.

Highlighting the abnormal rise in the number of measles cases this year, virologist and public health specialist Mahbuba Jamil said, “If vaccination activities continue, transmission may begin to decline within the next few weeks. Areas where vaccination drives have been conducted are showing relatively better conditions.”

She stated that Sylhet district is currently among the worst-affected areas in terms of infections.

According to health experts, inadequate vaccination coverage last year, along with malnutrition, has played a major role in worsening the outbreak.

On Wednesday, a group of protestors under the banner of ‘Socheton Nagorik Samaj’ reportedly formed a human chain in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi 27 area, calling for the trial of the former interim government’s chief advisor Muhammad Yunus and his health advisor Nurjahan Begum over the measles-related deaths, along with compensation for the victims’ families.

As measles has killed more than 400 individuals since mid-March across Bangladesh, a recent report described the outbreak as an “avoidable disaster” and called for accountability from the previous interim government led by Yunus, who dismantled a functional vaccine procurement system without the capacity to rebuild it.

“The country’s measles vaccination coverage rose steadily for two decades, becoming an international model for low-income countries. That record has now been squandered with shocking negligence by the past interim government,” an editorial report in The Daily Star stated.