Dhaka, Nov 12 (IANS) As Bangladesh grapples with an unprecedented measles outbreak, four more children died from symptoms of the disease on Thursday, pushing the death toll to 1,299 in 2026, local media reported.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the deaths were reported in the 24 hours leading up to Thursday morning.
The latest four fatalities from the disease were identified as suspected, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.
Reports suggest that while the number of confirmed deaths remained at 105, the total number of suspected deaths climbed to 1,194.
The DGHS recorded a total of 1,384 new suspected measles cases during the 24-hour period, bringing the overall tally of suspected cases to 244,291
Additionally, 157 new confirmed cases were reported, increasing the total to 24,880 during the same period.
Last month, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the measles “epidemic” was the result of “state negligence” and the collapse of the decades-old immunisation system.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Hasina accused the former Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration of disrupting vaccine procurement through its political and administrative decisions, leading to a considerable immunisation gap.
She alleged that Bangladesh’s measles-rubella vaccine stocks were exhausted in March 2026, followed by a sharp decline in vaccination coverage. She also claimed that the authorities failed to launch a supplementary vaccination campaign at the scheduled time.
Hasina further criticised Prime Minister Tarique Rahman-led BNP government, alleging that the authorities failed to take adequate action after the severity of the outbreak became evident
“More than one thousand children dying from a preventable disease is not an ordinary administrative failure,” she added.
The former Prime Minister called for uninterrupted vaccine supplies, targeted immunisation campaigns for vulnerable communities, real-time disease monitoring, expanded paediatric healthcare facilities and an independent probe into the alleged procurement and vaccination failures.
Furthermore, Be-nazir Ahmed, former director of disease control at DGHS, said last month that despite Bangladesh reinstating vaccine procurement through UNICEF in April, followed by an emergency vaccination drive, the epidemic is unlikely to be quickly contained given the speed of transmission, Bangladesh’s leading newspaper ‘The Daily Star’ reported.
–IANS
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