Bangladesh deaths linked to suspected measles cases reach nearly 1,000
In Bangladesh, the number of deaths linked to suspected measles cases has reached 999 since the beginning of the year. The government’s Directorate General of Health Services reported this as of Tuesday. The country’s authorities are conducting an emergency vaccination campaign in an effort to contain the spread of the outbreak.
As Asharq Al-Awsat reports, more than 166,000 suspected measles cases have been registered in Bangladesh since March, of which the Ministry of Health has laboratory-confirmed 19,835 infections. In March, more than 100 children died in less than a month.
Emergency vaccination
In March, the government, together with the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Gavi vaccine alliance, launched emergency vaccination. Initially, the campaign covered children aged from six months to five years, and it was later gradually expanded across the entire country.
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Measles is an extremely contagious airborne infection. The disease can cause fever, respiratory symptoms and a characteristic rash, as well as severe or fatal complications, especially in young children. According to the WHO, two doses of the vaccine provide reliable protection, while 95% of the population must be vaccinated to stop the spread of the infection.
Missed vaccinations
Between 2021 and 2025, Bangladesh recorded between 100 and 300 measles cases annually, compared with 2,410 cases in 2020. According to the source, the pandemic disrupted routine vaccination, while the measles campaign, conducted once every four years, was largely missed in 2024.
Atiqul Islam, a specialist in neonatology and pediatric diseases at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute in Dhaka, said that many children did not receive vaccinations in 2021–2022. According to him, vaccines were also unavailable at many vaccination sites under the previous interim government. Hospital doctors are treating children who often arrive with severe complications, including pneumonia, diarrhea and encephalitis.
