Dhaka, July 23 (IANS) As Bangladesh grapples with an unprecedented measles outbreak, two more children died from symptoms of the disease on Thursday, pushing the death toll to 805, local media reported.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the deaths were reported in the 24 hours leading up to Thursday morning.
The latest fatalities from the disease were identified as suspected, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.
Reports suggest that while the number of confirmed deaths remained at 95, the total number of suspected deaths climbed to 710.
The DGHS recorded a total of 848 suspected measles cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall tally of suspected cases to 121,200 since March 15.
Additionally, 166 new confirmed cases were reported, increasing the total to 15,007 during the same period.
Amid the worsening public health crisis, a report said that an average of nearly four children die every day from measles, and more than 800 people are hospitalised daily, while both the government’s response and public focus appear to have weakened.
Despite the government’s claim that it exceeded its emergency measles vaccination target, hospitals reportedly continue to see an influx of unvaccinated patients, exposing the shortcomings in vaccine coverage.
The outbreak remained severe in the first three weeks of July, with the country’s Directorate General of Health Services recording an average of 1,005 suspected and confirmed measles cases, 821 hospital admissions, and nearly four deaths every day.
“The situation has improved, but not as much as expected two months after the vaccination campaign — the authorities do not appear to realise that,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper The Daily Star quoted Mahmudur Rahman, chair of the National Verification Committee for Measles and Rubella Elimination, as saying.
According to health experts, the outbreak has persisted due to vaccination gaps affecting nearly 40 lakh children, infections among children beyond the campaign’s target age group, and weak infection prevention and control measures.
Rahman said that the 40-lakh gap between the measles-rubella and Vitamin A campaigns suggests that a large number of susceptible children remain unvaccinated.
Describing the 40-lakh gap “astonishing”, Be-Nazir Ahmed, a health expert and former director of disease control at the DGHS, said that it indicated a significantly low vaccination target.
“If the target itself was inaccurate, this outcome was inevitable,” he stated.
Ahmed noted that inadequate planning and limited public outreach undermined the measles vaccination campaign, with many families remaining unaware of the revised vaccination schedule.
–IANS
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