Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
At least 194 children have died in Bangladesh since March in a measles outbreak that has also left 28,000 suspected patients hospitalised, officials said on Friday, as the country grapples with its worst outbreak in decades.
Officials said at least three to five children had been dying of the highly contagious viral disease every day over the past week. Bangladesh confirmed the outbreak on March 15.
The government has launched a nationwide vaccination drive, while the World Health Organization (WHO) has assessed the risk at the national level as high because of ongoing transmission across multiple divisions.
“Our target is to vaccinate 18 million children,” health department spokesman Zahid Raihan said. “So far, we have covered a little over one-fourth of our target, and it may take another two weeks to see the impact of this vaccination programme.”
Measles, one of the world’s most contagious diseases according to the WHO, spreads through coughs and sneezes. It can affect all age groups, though children are the most vulnerable, and may lead to complications including brain swelling and severe respiratory illness.
The WHO said Bangladesh had seen a marked rise in measles cases since January. “Geographically, cases have been reported across all eight divisions, in 58 out of 64 districts (91 per cent of districts), indicating widespread transmission nationally,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
Between March 15 and April 14, Bangladesh reported 19,161 suspected measles cases and 2,973 laboratory-confirmed cases, the WHO said. It also recorded 12,318 hospital admissions and 9,772 hospital discharges during the period.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman blamed the previous Sheikh Hasina government for mismanagement and failing to procure vaccines, which he said contributed to the current outbreak.
“The autocratic government that we ousted, together with political parties both inside and outside Parliament, did not procure vaccines,” Tarique said.
He said Bangladesh was receiving support from the UN children’s agency, but there was a shortage of testing kits.
The crisis has left many families devastated. “After noticing a rash on our son’s skin, we rushed him to the hospital. Five days later, we brought him back dead,” said Mohammad Sajib, who lost his three-year-old son. “He had a high fever and breathing difficulties,” his mother Afsin Meem said.