At least 38 children have died of measles and related complications this year as the infectious disease is spreading in the capital and several other districts.
Of the deaths, 32 occurred this month -- 21 of them at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in the capital’s Mohakhali, including three yesterday, as the facility struggles with a surge of patients arriving from across the country.
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Six children died at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, five died at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH), four victims were from Chapainawabganj, and one died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH), officials said.
Several media outlets, including Prothom Alo, reported that 12 measles patients died at RMCH.
Meanwhile, two patients from Pabna died in Dhaka last month, including one at Shishu Hospital and one at Padma General Hospital, said the Civil Surgeon Office, Pabna.
If the numbers are included, the total number of deaths this year would rise to 46. The number could be even higher as the health authorities do not have comprehensive data on measles-related deaths.
Doctors and health officials said the number of measles patients started to rise from December last year but increased sharply this month. Apart from Dhaka, a growing number of cases have been reported in Mymensingh, Chapainawabganj, Pabna, Natore and Rajshahi.
As most of the admitted measles patients were found to be unvaccinated, experts and health officials blamed gaps in immunisation, particularly the long interval between special measles vaccination campaigns, as well as the cyclical pattern of outbreaks after a few years, among other factors.
Measles patients often develop pneumonia, diarrhoea, ear and brain infection; they often lose their immunity, and those with comorbidities are at higher risk of death.
Children aged nine months and 15 months receive measles vaccination twice under the regular immunisation programme, said Shahriar Sajjad, director of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).
The vaccination rate is 90 to 92 percent, so special vaccination campaigns are usually carried out every four years, with the latest one held in 2020. The planned special campaign in 2024 could not be conducted due to unrest in the country, he said.
Besides, the regular vaccination programme was disrupted at least three times last year due to strikes by health assistants who administer vaccinations in rural areas.
Additionally, a funding crisis following the suspension of the sector programme, which provides funds for vaccination, also disrupted services.
The regular Vitamin A and deworming campaigns were not held last year. These campaigns are related to children’s nutrition, and malnourished children are more prone to measles, he added.
Since around 10 percent of the children remain unvaccinated each year, a cyclical pattern of measles outbreaks occurs every few years, said Halimur Rashid, director (disease control) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The central stock of measles vaccine has already been exhausted and only a month’s supply remains at the field level, according to DGHS officials.
EPI’s Sajjad, however, said they have already received the vaccines in time for the planned special vaccination campaign in mid-April.
But several preparations are needed to ensure its success, he said, adding that a meeting of the National Technical Committee on Immunisation (NTCI) will be held today to finalise many of the related issues.
However, DGHS officials said the funds for carrying out the special campaign would come from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the public-private global health partnership that helps vaccinate children in the world’s poorest countries, and negotiations for funding are still ongoing.
If everything goes according to plan, the special campaign is expected to start before Eid-ul-Azha. Otherwise, it would be held after Eid, they said.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said the cabinet committee on government purchase approved a Tk 604 crore proposal for procuring vaccines last week.
All major hospitals have been instructed to open special wards for measles patients, he told reporters after a programme in Purbachal yesterday.
As of yesterday, the 100-bed IDH in Mohakhali has received 560 suspected measles patients so far this year compared with 69 cases last year. Of them, 448 were admitted in the 29 days of this month.
A total of 22 patients died at the hospital this year, including 21 this month and one in February, said hospital superintendent Tanzina Jahan.
As of yesterday, 45 suspected measles patients remained admitted to the hospital.
The number of measles patients at the hospital has come down a little as many patients are being admitted to Shishu Hospital, DNCC hospitals and some other facilities, she said.
During a visit to the hospital on March 17, the correspondent found many patients in the corridors and near staircases, but no such patients were seen yesterday.
At wards 3 and 4, this correspondent found seven measles patients, with eight-month-old Samir Ahmed Sarfaraz being one of them.
His parents brought him to IDH with measles and high fever from a Tangail hospital on Saturday, said his mother, Lima Akhter.
Almost all the measles patients admitted were unvaccinated, said ARM Sakhawat Hossain Khan, a consultant at the hospital.
Besides, many patients under six months old also got admitted, which is not very common, he added.
Reaz Mubarak, acting director of Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, also found many patients aged less than six months coming to the hospital. “This is unusual,” he said.
A total of 42 measles patients remained admitted to the hospital yesterday, and six have died this year, with the most recent death taking place on March 23, he added.
A total of 105 measles patients were admitted to MMCH this month, said the hospital’s director Brig Gen Md Zakir Hossain.
Of them, five children died, including two on Saturday, he said, adding that 66 patients remained admitted to the hospital as of yesterday.
A total of 250 suspected measles patients got admitted to the Sadar Hospital as of yesterday, said Chapainawabganj Civil Surgeon AKM Shahab Uddin. Four patients died, but they died at the RMCH outside the district, he said.
Several media reported that a total of 12 measles patients died at RMCH this month, but according to the hospital’s spokesperson, Shankar K Biswas, so far there has been a single death of a patient suspected to have measles.
At RMCH, 230 suspected cases have been reported. Of these, 73 samples were sent to the National Public Health Laboratory. Results for 54 samples have been received, with 28 testing positive, reports our Rajshahi Correspondent.
As cases spiked, RMCH set up an isolation centre for measles patients.
Over in Sylhet, 20 were admitted to hospitals with measles-like symptoms, with four later confirmed positive, said Mohammad Nure Alam Shamim, assistant director (disease control) at the divisional health office.
In Noakhali, more than 300 children have been infected in the last 15 days, according to Civil Surgeon Maryan Simi. As of yesterday, 15 remained hospitalised at the 250-bed General Hospital, Noakhali.
[Our correspondents from Rajshahi, Pabna, Sylhet, Noakhali and Mymensingh contributed to the report.]
