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Dhaka. Measles has taken the lives of many innocent people in Bangladesh. According to local media, an average of four children are dying every day in the country and more than 800 people are being admitted to hospital. Meanwhile, the attention of the government and the common people seems to be waning somewhat from this health crisis. In media reports, the main reason for the ever increasing outbreak of measles is being said to be the delay in vaccination (vaccination gap).

Despite the government’s claim that it has exceeded the target of the emergency measles vaccination campaign, hospitals are still receiving a large number of patients who have not been vaccinated. This reveals the shortcomings in vaccination coverage.

The measles outbreak remained severe during the first three weeks of July. According to data from Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Health Services, an average of 1,005 suspected and lab-confirmed measles cases were reported every day, 821 were hospitalized and about 4 child deaths were recorded every day.

Bangladesh’s leading newspaper ‘Daily Star’ quoted Mahmudur Rahman, chairman of the National Verification Committee for Measles and Rubella Elimination, as saying the situation has improved. But even after two months of the vaccination campaign, it is not as expected. It seems that the authorities have not been able to fully understand the situation.

What is the reason for the increasing outbreak of measles?

• According to health experts, the main reasons behind the continuing outbreak of measles are about 40 lakh children being deprived of vaccination, spread of infection among children outside the prescribed age group of the campaign and weakness of infection prevention and control measures.
• At least four children died in a measles outbreak in Bangladesh on Tuesday. Along with this, since March 15 till now, 797 innocent people have died (placed in suspected category) due to confirmed and measles-like symptoms to this disease.
• According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), this data is till 8 am on Tuesday (last 24 hours). Recent deaths of innocent children have been marked as suspicious deaths to the disease.