Bangladesh sees number of confirmed, suspected measles cases cross 100,000 in 'worst' outbreak

The majority of those infected and died are children

With no end to the worst outbreak in years in sight, the number of confirmed and suspected measles cases in Bangladesh has crossed the 100,000 mark since mid-March.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said 139 patients have been diagnosed with the viral disease and 1,009 others have sought treatment for symptoms over the last 24 hours until Thursday morning.

With the latest figures, the number of confirmed cases now stands at 10,773 since Mar 15.

Over the period, 89,904 more people have shown the symptoms.

The combined tally shows 100,667 cases.

So far, 74,184 people have been admitted to nationwide hospitals.

Of them, 70,503 have been discharged from the health facilities.

The spread of the highly contagious virus gained momentum in late February and it started to skyrocket by mid-March, forcing the DGHS to gather information and then roll out a vaccination campaign.

The majority of those diagnosed and died are children.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 25,000 children were infected in 2005.

Five New Deaths

The latest updates said another five people have died with measles symptoms over the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 573.

The DGHS have also logged 93 deaths of confirmed patients since Mar 15.

Bangladesh has not seen so many measles deaths in the last two decades.

With 297 deaths, Dhaka tops the divisional list while the other seven divisions each log fewer than 100 fatalities from confirmed and suspected cases.

Rangpur Division recorded the lowest toll with eight deaths.

A stalled vaccination campaign during the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government is largely blamed for the outbreak.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said on Wednesday the government will review who was responsible for the nationwide deaths of hundreds of children linked to the measles outbreak before taking action.