Dhaka, July 11 (IANS). The process of death of children due to measles or measles symptoms is not stopping in Bangladesh. Between Friday and Saturday 8 am, 3 more innocent people lost their lives, taking the death toll to 753.
Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has categorized these three deaths as suspicious (measles).
According to the latest data, the number of suspected measles deaths has increased to 660, while the number of laboratory-confirmed measles deaths remains stable at 93.
According to DGHS, 702 new suspected cases of measles have been reported in the last 24 hours. With this, the total number of suspected cases across the country has increased to 1,10,601.
During the same period, 84 new lab tests confirmed measles infection, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 13,410.
According to health department data, 93,491 patients with suspected measles symptoms have been admitted to hospital since March 15. Of these, 89,762 patients have recovered and returned home after treatment.
In view of the increasing cases in the country, health officials are continuously monitoring and are appealing to the people to vaccinate their children on time and seek immediate medical help if symptoms of measles appear.
According to a recent report published in Bangladeshi daily Daily Star, the rapid spread of measles (measles) and other infectious diseases among children under five years of age in Bangladesh is due to adverse conditions, malnutrition, lack of primary health services, delayed treatment and rising medical expenses.
The report said that measles has once again emerged as a serious public health challenge for Bangladesh. Nearly 24,000 children under the age of five die every year in Bangladesh due to pneumonia. This means that an average of 60 children lose their lives every day due to pneumonia. Experts say that the risk of serious complications and death from diseases like measles and pneumonia increases manifold in malnourished children.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, whose ability to spread infection is considered greater than that of corona virus. Especially malnourished infants and small children are becoming its biggest victims.
It has been reported in the report that the scope of vaccination of children in Bangladesh is also continuously decreasing. Full vaccination coverage among children aged 12 to 23 months was 83.9 percent in 2019, which declined to 81.6 percent in 2023. In urban areas this coverage is only 79 percent, while in rural areas 84.6 percent children are getting complete vaccination.
–IANS
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