More than 500 children die in Bangladesh measles outbreak | Health Issues

Most of the cases in the country are of children between six months and five years old.

A wheelchair in Bangladesh killing more than 500 children in the deadliest operation in decades.

The death toll continued to rise on Saturday, with 13 children dying in just the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 512, according to the health department’s March 15 data.

Hospitals in the capital Dhaka, overwhelmed by cases, have set up dedicated wards but do not have enough intensive care beds.

Measles, which has no specific treatment once caught, is a highly contagious disease that spreads through coughing and sneezing.

The disease mainly affects children and can cause serious complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling and death, especially among children who are malnourished or unvaccinated.

It remains one of the leading causes of death among vaccinated children worldwide.

The South Asian country of 175 million people has launched a vaccination campaign to combat the epidemic. The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the country, Rana Flowers, said this week that the project has reached 18 million children.

But the Department of Health says the full effects of the vaccine will take months to be felt.

UNICEF reported on Wednesday that vaccination gaps had increased significantly during and after the 2024 student-led protests. he overthrew the governmentleaving many children unprotected.

The health department’s death toll comes after the government declared the outbreak over, saying cases had dropped in several previously troubled areas.

Most of the cases recorded in the current outbreak are of children between the ages of six months and five years.

Doctors said that most of the children who arrived at the hospitals were already very sick.

“Although measles is highly contagious, a healthy baby with no complications can have minimal treatment,” Ainul Islam Khan, a pediatrician at Dhaka’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, told AFP.

“Here, many children came to the hospital with respiratory problems and infections in the eyes, throat and lungs.”

UNICEF has emphasized the need to strengthen immunization programs and increase funding for hospitals, monitoring and data systems in the future.

A policy document published on Thursday by the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership warned that vaccine gaps could increase antimicrobial resistance in Bangladesh.