Seven children in Bangladesh succumbed to symptoms resembling measles within 24 hours until 8 am on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 488 since March 15, as per local reports. The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) disclosed that four deaths were suspected to be linked to measles, while three were confirmed through laboratory tests. The highest number of recent deaths were recorded in Chittagong, reported the Dhaka Tribune.
Since March 15, Bangladesh has documented 405 suspected measles-related deaths and 83 confirmed fatalities. Additionally, 1,423 new suspected measles cases were reported during this period, increasing the total suspected infections to 59,279. Over the same timeframe, 208 new confirmed measles cases emerged, raising the total confirmed infections to 8,275. Notably, 46,407 suspected patients were hospitalized since March 15, with 42,336 individuals discharged post-recovery, according to Dhaka Tribune.
Amidst a worsening measles outbreak in Bangladesh, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) highlighted its prior warnings to the country’s former interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, regarding vaccine shortages that could spark a severe health crisis. UNICEF’s representative to Bangladesh, Rana Flowers, emphasized the agency’s repeated alerts to health authorities through letters and meetings during the interim government’s tenure, as reported by The Daily Star.
Flowers mentioned that UNICEF had been cautioning the government since 2024 about the vaccine scarcity potentially causing an outbreak. Despite multiple communications and meetings from 2024 to 2026, the necessary vaccine orders were not placed, as per The Daily Star. Ted Chaiban, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, also raised concerns about vaccine shortages during a meeting with the foreign ministry in Bangladesh last August. Furthermore, UNICEF expressed readiness to provide evidence for the investigation initiated by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government on the measles outbreak.
