Dhaka, June 2 (IANS). Measles has killed more than 500 children in Bangladesh. In the month of May itself, 309 innocent children died due to measles and its related symptoms. At the same time, six more children died in the last 24 hours till 8 am on Tuesday (Monday to Tuesday).
A total of 594 children have died since March 15. This information is given in official figures. UNB news agency quoted the medical bulletin issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) as saying that the deaths of these six children have been classified as suspicious.
According to the latest data, the number of deaths so far due to symptoms similar to measles has reached 504 (these were placed in the suspected category), while 90 deaths were attributed to measles.
1,292 new suspected measles cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of suspected cases to 73,362.
There were 42 new confirmed cases in the same period, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 9,136.
A total of 59,106 patients with measles-like symptoms were admitted to hospital since March 15, out of which 54,812 patients have recovered, according to DGHS data.
According to international media reports, including Reuters, more than 62,000 suspected cases of measles and more than 8,000 lab-confirmed infections were recorded in Bangladesh between March and May 2026.
According to Bangladesh’s English daily Daily Sun, most of the children were under the age of five, and many had not received the full measles vaccination course. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF have also cited lack of vaccination coverage as a main reason behind the current crisis.
Measles is one of the most spread viral diseases in the world. One infected child can spread the virus to about 90 percent of unvaccinated children in the neighborhood.
–IANS
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