More than 500 children killed in measles outbreak in Bangladesh

A measles outbreak in Bangladesh has killed more than 500 children in the deadliest surge there in decades.

The death toll continued to rise on Saturday, with 13 children passing away in the past 24 hours alone, increasing the total to 512, according to a health department tally that began on March 15.

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Hospitals in the capital Dhaka, which have been overwhelmed with cases, have set up dedicated wards but lack sufficient numbers of intensive care beds.

Measles, which has no specific treatment once caught, is a highly contagious viral disease that spreads through coughs and sneezes.

The disease primarily affects children and can cause severe complications, including pneumonia, brain inflammation and death, particularly among malnourished or unvaccinated children.

It remains one of the leading causes of vaccine-preventable child deaths worldwide.

The South Asian nation of 175 million people has rolled out a mass vaccination drive to combat the outbreak. United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) country chief Rana Flowers said this week that the campaign has reached 18 million children.

But the health department said the full impact of the vaccinations would take months to be felt.

UNICEF said on Wednesday that gaps in immunisation worsened during and after the chaos of the 2024 student-led uprising that toppled the government, leaving large numbers of children unprotected.

The health department’s death toll comes after the government said the outbreak was now contained, noting a decline in cases in several previously hard-hit areas.

Most cases recorded during the current outbreak have been among children aged between six months and five years.

Doctors say many of the children arriving at hospitals were already critically ill.

“Though measles is highly contagious, a healthy baby with no complications can survive with minimal medication,” Ainul Islam Khan, a paediatrician at Dhaka’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, told the AFP news agency.

“Here, most children came to the hospital with respiratory distress and infections in the eyes, throat and lungs.”

UNICEF stressed the need to boost vaccination programmes and increase funding for health facilities, surveillance and data systems in the future.

A policy brief published on Thursday by the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership warned that vaccination gaps could worsen antimicrobial resistance in Bangladesh.