Another seven children died from measles-like symptoms in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours, amid the disease’s worsening outbreak nationwide, with the total death toll now reaching 475.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services, four children were confirmed to have measles, while the remaining three died with suspected measles symptoms.
In the same period, over 1423 patients with symptoms consistent with the disease were admitted to hospitals across the country. Of these, 208 cases were lab-confirmed as measles.
So far this year, at least 83 children have died from confirmed measles in Bangladesh. In addition, 405 children have died with symptoms consistent with measles.
As per DGHS data, a total of 8275 measles infections were confirmed through laboratory testing between March 15 and May 21.
According to the latest health bulletin, 59,279 suspected measles cases have been identified nationwide. Of these 42,336 patients have already been discharged after receiving treatment.
There has been an abject lack of vaccine supplies in the country since 2024, with vaccination rates falling from over 90% to 57% and going lower, resulting in the outbreak.
UNICEF had earlier said that it had issued multiple warnings to Dhaka about the lack of vaccines and the urgent need to act on it back in 2024, though timely action was not taken.
As per UNICEF data, Bangladesh typically procures around 70 million vaccine doses annually. However, between August and November 2025, only 17.8 million routine Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) vaccines were brought into the country through the organisation’s pre-financing mechanism.
“The vaccines we brought were through UNICEF pre-financing, and the government reimbursed the cost in April 2026,” UNICEF said.
