Dhaka, July 22 (IANS) As Bangladesh grapples with an unprecedented measles outbreak, an average of nearly four children die every day, and more than 800 people are hospitalised daily, while both the government’s response and public focus appear to have weakened, local media reported on Wednesday.
Despite the government’s claim that it exceeded its emergency measles vaccination target, hospitals reportedly continue to see an influx of unvaccinated patients, exposing the shortcomings in vaccine coverage.
The outbreak remained severe in the first three weeks of July, with the country’s Directorate General of Health Services recording an average of 1,005 suspected and confirmed measles cases, 821 hospital admissions, and nearly four deaths every day.
“The situation has improved, but not as much as expected two months after the vaccination campaign — the authorities do not appear to realise that,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper The Daily Star quoted Mahmudur Rahman, chair of the National Verification Committee for Measles and Rubella Elimination, as saying.
According to health experts, the outbreak has persisted due to vaccination gaps affecting nearly 40 lakh children, infections among children beyond the campaign’s target age group, and weak infection prevention and control measures.
At least four children died from the measles outbreak in Bangladesh on Tuesday, raising the total number of confirmed and suspected deaths to 797 since March 15 this year, amid an escalating health crisis in the country.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the deaths were reported in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday morning, while the latest fatalities from the disease were identified as suspected.
Citing accounts from the attendants of seven measles patients, The Daily Star reported that six of the seven children—three admitted to the DNCC Dedicated Covid-19 Hospital and four to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH)—had not been vaccinated against measles.
As many as 80 to 90 per cent of the measles patients currently admitted are unvaccinated, said Asif Haider, administrative officer of the DNCC hospital, which has been providing dedicated measles care since mid-March.
He said that among the 74 measles patients admitted to the hospital in the 24 hours ending on Sunday, only five had been vaccinated.
Meanwhile, Mahmadur Rahman said that the 40-lakh gap between the measles-rubella and Vitamin A campaigns suggests that a large number of susceptible children remain unvaccinated.
Describing the 40-lakh gap “astonishing”, Be-Nazir Ahmed, a health expert and former director of disease control at the DGHS, said that it indicated a significantly low vaccination target.
“If the target itself was inaccurate, this outcome was inevitable,” he stated.
Ahmed noted that inadequate planning and limited public outreach undermined the measles vaccination campaign, with many families remaining unaware of the revised vaccination schedule.
–IANS
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