Bangladesh battles worst measles outbreak as deaths near 1,000

DHAKA: Bangladesh is confronting its worst measles outbreak on record, with nearly 1,000 suspected and confirmed measles-related deaths reported since March, as hospitals struggle with overcrowding and shortages while thousands of sick children continue to seek treatment.

The outbreak has reversed years of progress against the highly contagious disease and exposed gaps in Bangladesh’s routine immunisation programme. Health experts say disruptions to vaccination services during 2024 and 2025 left large numbers of children without adequate protection.

According to health ministry data, more than 166,000 suspected measles cases have been recorded since the outbreak began in March, including 19,835 laboratory-confirmed infections. The disease has been linked to 999 deaths, of which 100 have been confirmed as measles fatalities.

More than 146,000 suspected patients have also been hospitalised, placing extraordinary pressure on an already stretched healthcare system.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently lists Bangladesh as experiencing the world’s largest measles outbreak.

Years of progress put at risk

The scale of the outbreak is particularly alarming because Bangladesh had previously made substantial progress towards measles elimination.

For much of the past decade, the country maintained measles vaccination coverage at or above the 95 per cent level recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Coverage weakened during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the more significant gaps emerged in 2024 and 2025.

Health experts have linked those gaps to political turmoil and disruption in public services following the uprising that eventually ended the long tenure of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Professor Mahmudur Rahman, an epidemiologist and former director of Bangladesh’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, said the country had never witnessed such a large number of children suffering and dying from measles in a single year.

He said closing immunity gaps, improving vaccination coverage and increasing public awareness were now urgent priorities.

Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain told parliament that changes in vaccine procurement procedures under the interim government contributed to shortages.

He also said a vaccination programme was postponed in 2024, while a nationwide measles-rubella campaign planned for the following year was cancelled.

The World Health Organisation, Unicef and other health agencies have similarly warned about the consequences of disrupted routine immunisation.

Infants among those most vulnerable

The outbreak has affected children across different age groups, but infants have faced particular risks.

Children under five accounted for around 80 per cent of cases during the early stages of the outbreak. Infants younger than nine months are especially vulnerable because they are generally too young to receive routine measles vaccination under the standard schedule.

When vaccination coverage falls, the virus can find more people without immunity, allowing transmission to continue within communities.

Experts say the problem is therefore not limited to children who missed a single dose. Large gaps in population immunity can undermine the protection that vaccination programmes are designed to provide.

Emergency campaign reaches millions

In response to the outbreak, Bangladesh launched a nationwide emergency measles-rubella vaccination campaign in April.

The campaign initially targeted around 18 million children aged six months to under five years.

Health ministry data shows that more than 19.7 million children have since been vaccinated.

The scale of the campaign represents a major effort to close some of the immunity gaps created over the previous two years. But health experts warn that emergency campaigns alone cannot solve the underlying problem.

They say Bangladesh must also restore strong routine immunisation, improve vaccine supply systems and identify children who missed earlier vaccinations.

Hospitals overwhelmed by measles and dengue

The measles crisis is unfolding alongside another serious health emergency: dengue.

More than 45,000 people have been admitted to hospital with dengue this year, according to health ministry figures. On Tuesday, dengue deaths reached nine in a single day while hospital admissions climbed to 1,571, both reported as the highest daily figures of the year.

The simultaneous outbreaks have put hospitals under intense pressure.

At Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, acting director Dr Nanda Dulal Saha said the facility was struggling to accommodate the growing number of patients.

The hospital has around 60 beds designated for measles patients, but some patients are reportedly being treated on the floor.

Saha said the facility was also facing shortages of paediatric saline, which can be used to help manage symptoms and complications associated with measles.

The hospital was designed to accommodate about 1,350 patients but is currently treating more than 2,350, according to Saha.

Families face a painful search for treatment

Behind the statistics are families moving from hospital to hospital in search of treatment.

Nasima Begum, a 35-year-old house help, said her 13-month-old son contracted measles nearly two months ago.

After being unable to find a hospital bed at four facilities, the family eventually secured admission for him. He was discharged after 10 days but has continued to experience recurring fever and has not fully recovered.

Begum said her son had missed his vaccination because he was ill. When the family later returned to a vaccination centre, they were reportedly told that the vaccine was unavailable.

Her four older children had received their routine vaccinations, highlighting how gaps in supply or access can leave individual children vulnerable even when families are generally willing to vaccinate.

Another parent, factory worker Mohammad Ripon, said his eight-month-old daughter developed a rash and other symptoms associated with measles shortly after being discharged from hospital.

The family visited several healthcare facilities before eventually seeking help at a hospital dedicated to measles patients.

“We are just hopping around from one hospital to another,” Ripon said, expressing frustration over the lack of clear information.

A preventable disease becomes a national crisis

Measles is among the world’s most contagious infectious diseases. It typically causes fever and a characteristic rash but can lead to serious complications, particularly among young and malnourished children.

Yet it is also preventable through vaccination.

The recommended protection comes from receiving two doses of a measles-containing vaccine. When vaccination coverage remains high, outbreaks become much less likely to spread widely.

Bangladesh’s current crisis demonstrates the consequences when routine vaccination systems are disrupted for an extended period.

The emergency campaign has reached millions of children, but health experts say maintaining protection will require sustained investment beyond the immediate outbreak.

That includes reliable vaccine procurement, strong monitoring systems, effective public awareness campaigns and efforts to reach children who missed scheduled doses.

Health system faces a double challenge

The combination of measles and dengue has created an especially difficult situation for Bangladesh.

Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease associated with warmer temperatures and urbanisation, is placing additional pressure on hospitals already struggling to manage measles patients.

The twin outbreaks illustrate the challenge of maintaining routine public health services while responding to rapidly escalating infectious disease emergencies.

For families such as Begum’s, however, the crisis is far more personal than statistics suggest.

“We are poor and cannot afford treatment,” she said, expressing hope that her son would recover.

Her plea captures the human cost of an outbreak that experts believe could have been prevented through stronger and more consistent vaccination coverage.

As Bangladesh continues its emergency vaccination campaign, the immediate priority is to stop the spread and protect vulnerable children.

But the longer-term challenge will be rebuilding confidence and capacity in the routine immunisation system so that the country can regain the progress it once made towards eliminating measles.

For now, hospitals remain crowded, parents continue searching for care and health officials face a race against time to close the immunity gaps that allowed one of the world’s most preventable diseases to return with such devastating force.