16 more children die of measles-like symptoms in Bangladesh

Bangladesh's health authorities on Sunday recorded 16 more fatalities of children with measles-like symptoms, taking the death toll to 528 since mid-March.

Of the new fatalities, 10 were from the Dhaka division, raising the total deaths to 224 in this division alone, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

During the past 24 hours, 1,434 new cases of measles and measles symptoms have been registered across the country.

The South Asian nation of 175 million people has struggled to confirm infections promptly because of a shortage of testing kits.

Since March 15, a total of 442 children have died in the country due to measles-like symptoms, with 86 losing their lives after being medically diagnosed with measles.

As many as 63,813 children have reported symptoms of measles in the same period, 50,558 of them were admitted to the hospital, and 46,214 recovered.

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects children and can cause severe complications, including pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death, particularly among malnourished or unvaccinated children.

It remains one of the leading causes of vaccine-preventable child deaths worldwide.

The Health Ministry has already vaccinated more than 18.44 million children against an initial government target of 18 million set in consultation with UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and other development partners.

UNICEF's Dhaka office identified poor vaccine coverage for years, malnutrition among children and mothers, along with low exclusive breastfeeding rates, as factors behind the widespread infections and weakened immunity.