Hundreds of children die as measles cases exceed 60,000 in Bangladesh
Bangladesh has recorded more than 60,000 suspected measles cases in just over two months; according to the Health Ministry, 480 children under five have died. The outbreak is concentrated in northern districts where vaccination coverage has slipped. UNICEF has launched an emergency immunisation campaign. This article is not medical advice.
BBC Asia correspondent Anbarasan Ethirajan, reporting from Dhaka, said the Bangladesh Health Ministry registered 60,240 suspected measles cases and 480 deaths among children under five as of 28 May. The Rangpur and Kurigram districts, where vaccination coverage slipped from 88 percent to 71 percent during the pandemic period, report the highest case loads. Isolation protocols have been tightened in border-area Rohingya camps.
UNICEF Bangladesh representative Rana Flowers told the BBC: 'In the next six weeks we are aiming to reach 7 million children with vaccines.' Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen said vitamin A supplementation and the MMR second-dose programme would also be accelerated alongside the campaign; mobile health teams have begun weekly immunisation sweeps in rural districts.
The WHO South-East Asia regional office said it was monitoring the risk of spillover to neighbouring Indian states such as West Bengal and Assam. Experts emphasise that the article should not be read as medical advice and that families should follow local health authority guidance. The vaccine dose delivery rate in the coming weeks is seen as the key factor for whether the outbreak curve flattens by the end of June.
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