A measles outbreak has spread uncontrollably across Bangladesh, pushing the cumulative death toll past 600.
According to foreign media including Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency on Tuesday (local time), Bangladesh's health authorities reported that seven more people died in a single day the previous day, bringing the total to 601 deaths since the first outbreak in mid-March. Of these, 90 deaths were confirmed as measles infections through laboratory testing, while the remaining 511 were classified as suspected cases.
Cumulative suspected patients have reached about 83,700. Of these, around 9,200 are confirmed cases, but due to a shortage of diagnostic kits at local health centers, the actual scale of infections and deaths is believed to far exceed the official figures.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) pointed to gaps in vaccination as the core cause of the crisis. Bangladesh effectively suspended routine mass vaccinations during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and recent political turmoil, and during that period the population of infants and young children lacking immunity rapidly accumulated.
The damage has been concentrated among the most vulnerable. Infants under nine months of age and children who received no or only partial vaccinations are fully exposed to the risk of infection and severe illness. Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that spreads through the air via coughing and sneezing, and unvaccinated children in poor nutritional condition are prone to fatal complications such as pneumonia and encephalitis.
The Bangladeshi government is expanding emergency measles and rubella vaccinations in cooperation with the WHO and UNICEF, but progress is slow. This is because vaccinations are not reaching children in time who are in healthcare blind spots, such as those in slums, rural areas, and short-term residents.
Experts point out that mass vaccination alone has its limits. They note that the spread can only be curbed when precise vaccination plans to identify unvaccinated children by region are carried out alongside simultaneous medical responses such as early isolation, oxygen treatment, and nutritional support.
