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Health authorities in Bangladesh reported four additional child deaths linked to measles and measles-like symptoms over the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 991 since mid-March, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) under the Health Ministry.
One more child died from a confirmed measles infection in the same period, raising the number of confirmed measles deaths to 100.
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has recorded the highest toll among the country's administrative divisions, with 464 deaths registered there alone.
The Health Ministry also reported 843 new cases involving measles-like symptoms and 74 new confirmed infections in the past day, bringing the overall totals to 163,105 symptomatic cases and 19,641 confirmed cases since the outbreak began.
A total of 143,214 infected children have been admitted to hospitals nationwide since mid-March, of whom 137,921 have recovered and been discharged, the DGHS said.
Bangladesh, a South Asian country of around 175 million people, has struggled to contain the outbreak amid low vaccination coverage, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The country previously held herd immunity against measles but lost it in recent years as vaccination rates declined, the WHO said.
National first-dose measles-rubella vaccination coverage fell from 88.6% in 2019 to 86% in 2024, while second-dose coverage dropped from 89% to 80.7% over the same period, leaving an estimated 20 million children vulnerable, according to a public health situational analysis of the outbreak.
Since April five, the Health Ministry has vaccinated nearly 19.48 million children through a special immunization drive in addition to routine vaccination programs.
A new special vaccination campaign, running alongside routine immunization efforts, is set to begin nationwide toward the end of this month, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain said Friday, as the outbreak continues.
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