Muyabia Labony , Health Desk – Two more children have tragically died from measles and related complications in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 718 over the past three and a half months.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) confirmed these latest casualties in its daily report on Tuesday.
Of the total fatalities recorded since mid-March, 93 children have been laboratory-confirmed to have died from measles, while the remaining 625 succumbed to severe symptoms clinically aligned with the disease. The two latest deaths were reported from Dhaka and Sylhet divisions.
Rising Caseloads and Hospitalizations
The daily updates reflect a persistent surge in infections. In the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday morning, 980 new cases were registered nationwide. Among them, 114 were confirmed measles cases, while 866 exhibited strong symptoms of the highly contagious viral disease.
This pushes the cumulative number of infected children to 113,042 over the last 105 days. The DGHS data breaks down the total cases as follows:
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Confirmed Measles Cases: 11,965
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Symptomatic Cases: 101,077
The pressure on the country’s healthcare infrastructure remains immense. A total of 821 children were admitted to various hospitals across Bangladesh with measles symptoms within the last 24 hours alone. Concurrently, 781 children were discharged after recovery during the same timeframe.
Current Medical Response
To cope with the influx, dedicated medical facilities—including the DNCC Dedicated Covid-19 Hospital in Dhaka—have shifted resources to treat the growing number of pediatric patients suffering from the outbreak.
To date, 84,627 children have required hospitalization due to severe complications. Fortunately, the recovery rate remains high, with 80,974 children successfully treated and discharged so far.
Health authorities continue to urge parents to ensure their children receive the MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine and to seek immediate medical attention if symptoms like high fever, cough, runny nose, and distinct skin rashes appear.