Daijiworld Media Network - Dhaka
Dhaka, Jun 20: Bangladesh's worsening measles outbreak claimed seven more children's lives on Saturday, taking the combined number of confirmed and suspected deaths to 677 since March 15, according to health authorities.
Data released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) showed that the latest fatalities occurred within a 24-hour period and have been classified as suspected measles-related deaths.
According to official figures, the number of confirmed deaths remains at 93, while suspected deaths have risen to 584.
Health authorities also reported 807 new suspected cases over the past 24 hours, pushing the total number of suspected infections to 91,789.
In addition, 80 new laboratory-confirmed cases were recorded, increasing the overall number of confirmed infections to 10,949.
The outbreak has now crossed the one lakh mark when combining confirmed and suspected cases, despite a nationwide vaccination campaign conducted a month ago that reportedly covered 18.4 million children.
Public health experts have attributed the continued rise in infections to gaps in vaccine coverage and inadequate disease-control measures.
According to experts, several regions have failed to achieve the recommended 95 per cent vaccination coverage required to establish herd immunity.
Mushtuq Husain said two major factors were preventing the outbreak from subsiding: incomplete vaccination coverage and poor adherence to infection prevention protocols in hospitals and communities.
Health specialists have also warned that the arrival of the dengue season could further endanger children already weakened by measles, increasing the likelihood of severe complications.
Earlier this week, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina criticised the previous interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus for allegedly disrupting the country's vaccination programme while attempting to introduce a new vaccine procurement system.
She also accused the current government, backed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), of negligence and administrative failures that she said had allowed the outbreak to escalate into an epidemic.
In a statement shared by the Awami League on X, Hasina alleged that hundreds of thousands of children across 61 districts had been affected.
She further claimed that the actual death toll could be significantly higher than official figures.
“This is not an accident; this is an administrative crime,” the former Prime Minister said, while criticising authorities for what she described as failures in disease prevention and public health management.
The outbreak continues to place enormous pressure on Bangladesh's healthcare system as authorities work to contain the spread of the disease and prevent further loss of life.