Dhaka, Sep 9 (IANS) As Bangladesh grapples with an unprecedented measles outbreak, three more children died from symptoms of the disease on Wednesday, pushing the overall death toll to 1002 this year, local media reported.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the deaths were reported in the 24 hours leading up to Wednesday morning.

The latest three fatalities from the disease were identified as suspected, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.

Reports suggest that while the number of confirmed deaths remained at 100, the total number of suspected deaths climbed to 902.

The DGHS recorded a total of 1,119 new suspected measles cases during the 24-hour period, bringing the overall tally of suspected cases to 167,580.

Additionally, 69 new confirmed cases were reported, increasing the total to 19,904 during the same period.

According to public health experts, inadequate vaccination coverage and the lack of effective preventive measures have contributed to the situation, leaving infants under six months particularly vulnerable to measles.

The health authorities acknowledged gaps in vaccination coverage, saying additional vaccines were being procured and a short, intensive drive was likely to be launched to reach children who remain unvaccinated, Bangladesh’s leading newspaper The Daily Star reported.

Epidemiologist Prof Mahmudur Rahman, who also chairs the National Verification Committee for Measles and Rubella Elimination, said the government should first constitute an expert panel to examine surveillance and immunisation data and identify gaps in coverage.

He said that the gaps could be geographic, age-specific or socioeconomic, depending on the findings, and urged targeted interventions in areas where vaccination coverage remains low.

“If necessary, sub-immunisation activities (SIAs) should be conducted in those areas. Even if it is not possible to cover everywhere, focusing on areas with major gaps could produce results,” The Daily Star quoted Rahman as saying

He also urged authorities to strengthen public health measures to curb transmission, noting that a significant number of children below six months—who are not yet eligible for vaccination—are contracting the disease.

“From the beginning of the outbreak, we have not adequately implemented public health measures. Now we have to do it because the number of cases continues to rise,” said Rahman.

Recently, a leading international advocacy group described the 2026 measles outbreak as one of Bangladesh’s worst public health crisis in recent history, highlighting the concern that the disease is preventable through vaccination.

In its report titled ‘Preventable Tragedy: Bangladesh's 2026 Measles Outbreak’, Canada-based Global Centre for Democratic Governance (GCDG) said that although the measles outbreak appeared sudden to the public, it was not an unexpected event from an "epidemiological perspective".

The report noted that the crisis resulted from a combination of disruptions to vaccine supply and health programs in 2024-2025 during the former interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, along with missed routine vaccinations, cancellations of scheduled supplementary immunisation programmes, administrative delays in vaccine procurement, and a failure to promptly identify at-risk populations.

--IANS

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