Dhaka, June 13 (IANS). Amid the growing outbreak of measles in Bangladesh, one more child died of the disease on Friday. With this, the total number of confirmed and suspected measles-related deaths since March 15 has increased to 643.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the news of the death was received in the 24 hours till Friday morning. The latest death from the disease has been identified as suspicious, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.
According to reports, while the number of confirmed deaths remained stable at 92, the total number of suspected deaths rose to 551. This means that 551 deaths have not yet been officially confirmed.
DGHS recorded a total of 1,027 suspected cases of measles in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of suspected cases to 84,266.
Additionally, 126 new confirmed cases were reported in the same period, bringing the total number of cases to 10,185.
Bangladeshi newspaper, Dhaka Tribune, reported that despite government claims that vaccination coverage has exceeded 100 percent of targeted children, a serious outbreak of measles continues to spread in the country. This has increased concerns among vaccination experts about the effectiveness of the vaccine and lack of coverage.
More than a month after the nationwide emergency measles vaccination campaign ended, more than 1,000 children are being admitted to hospitals across the country daily with measles or measles-like symptoms. At the same time, the number of deaths due to this disease is also continuously increasing.
The continuous increase in cases has increased the concern of public health experts. He says that merely increasing vaccination coverage is not enough, unless children develop sufficient immunity to protect against infection.
“When vaccine coverage exceeds 90 percent, the spread of measles should reduce significantly. If vaccination has indeed reached the reported levels, infections should have declined even more rapidly by now,” the Dhaka Tribune quoted Be-Nazir Ahmed, a former director of the government’s disease control branch, as saying.
Former director Be-Nazir Ahmed says the targets set in government data may not fully reflect the actual number of children eligible for vaccination.
“In some cases, coverage may appear to be 100 percent on paper, when in reality thousands of children remain unvaccinated,” he said.
–IANS
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