Measles: Bangladesh reports five more deaths, 90 new cases

879 people with measles symptoms sought treatment at hospitals across the country over the past day, with 849 admitted for treatment

Bangladesh has reported five more deaths among people with measles or related symptoms in a 24-hour count. Among the deaths, one person had a confirmed case of measles, while the others displayed symptoms consistent with the disease.

The latest bulletin from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), released on Sunday, says 90 new cases of the disease have been confirmed.

The total number of deaths among diagnosed measles cases since Mar 15 – when the DGHS started reporting data - stands at 94. Another 664 have died with suspected measles cases.

Dhaka Division has recorded the highest number of fatalities at 287. Sylhet is second with 90, Rajshahi has 89 deaths, Mymensingh 63, Chattogram 54, Barishal 43, Khulna 29 and Rangpur nine.

The health directorate said 879 people with measles symptoms sought treatment at hospitals across the country over the past day. Of them, 849 were admitted for treatment.

Dhaka Division recorded the highest number of new hospital admissions with 365 patients.

Another 159 patients were admitted in Chattogram Division, followed by 117 in Barishal, 74 in Sylhet, 46 in Khulna, 41 in Mymensingh, 29 in Rajshahi and 18 in Rangpur.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, 94,340 measles patients have been admitted to hospitals nationwide.

Of those, 90,605 have recovered and been discharged after treatment, according to the DGHS.

The health authorities also reported that the cumulative number of suspected measles cases in the country has reached 111,480.

The total number of confirmed measles cases now stands at 13,500.