Measles has spread in 61 districts, how long can the outbreak last?
In the last 24 hours, 92 new measles patients were detected across the country. 8 people died.
Measles has spread in 61 districts of the country, says the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). 83 percent of children with measles are under five years of age.
According to the Department of Health, the measles outbreak may last for another one to one-and-a-half months. They said vaccination is already underway in hotspots. Nationwide vaccination will begin three days later, on April 20. Apart from this, the affected children are being treated in isolation.
In this situation, public health experts think that measles infection can be reduced due to vaccination, isolation and human precautions.
The Measles situation was highlighted by the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in a workshop titled ‘Nationwide Measles-Rubella Immunization Campaign 2026: Role of Media’ organized at the National Media Institute in the capital on Thursday. It is said that the risk of measles in Bangladeshi children is very high at present. In 2023, 86 percent of children received the first dose of the vaccine and 81 percent of children received the second dose. The number of unvaccinated or unprotected children in four to five years equaled or exceeded the number of children born in one year. An outbreak of measles occurs in such situations.
According to experts who work on newborn health, about 3.4 lakh babies are born in the country every year. According to EPI, the number of unvaccinated children for measles-rubella is 3.4 lakh or more.
Yesterday, Additional Director General (Administration) Professor Md. Zahid Raihan told Prothom Alo, ‘We have started vaccination in hotspots. We have made arrangements to keep children infected with measles in isolation. Measles is no longer widespread. Public health experts have told us that within one to one-and-a-half months, the measles outbreak will go down.
Public health experts believe there is much room for vaccination to prevent measles. Professor Mahmudur Rahman, a distinguished pathologist and former director of the government’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told Prothom Alo that the nationwide vaccination campaign will begin on April 20. Outbreaks usually subside within two to three weeks of the start of the campaign. If the vaccination program is carried out properly, it is hoped that there will be no outbreaks.
Measles can affect people of any age, says the EPI. However, its incidence, complications and death are more common in children. Complications of measles include pneumonia, diarrhea, malnutrition, encephalitis, visual impairment, hearing impairment.
In the last 24 hours (from 8:00 AM last Wednesday to 8:00 AM yesterday), 92 new measles patients have been identified across the country. 2 people died of measles at the same time. And 6 people died with measles symptoms.
Measles was first detected in Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar in January this year. According to the Integrated Control Center, 3 thousand 65 measles patients have been detected across the country so far. On the other hand, 172 people died of measles symptoms and 34 people died of measles. The number of measles cases and deaths is high in Dhaka Division.
After the outbreak of measles, measles-rubella vaccination has started in 30 high-risk upazilas and 13 municipalities of 18 districts on April 5. Vaccination started in Dhaka North-South, Mymensingh and Barisal City Corporation areas from April 12 and will continue for four weeks. And from April 20, vaccination will start in all upazilas, districts, municipalities and city corporations of the country and will continue for four weeks.
According to EPI, all children aged 6 months to 59 months (five years) in the country are or will be given one dose of measles-rubella vaccination. All children of that age will be vaccinated with one dose, even if they have previously received measles-rubella vaccine or if the child has been exposed to measles or rubella.
Vaccination will be given in nurseries, kindergartens, Ibtedai, Maktabs, Orphanages and Children’s Ashrams. Students under five years of age studying in these institutions will be vaccinated. In addition, children who do not attend school or have not been vaccinated at school will be vaccinated at the regular immunization center in the area where they live.
During the campaign, one permanent vaccination center will be run in each upazila hospital, municipal and city corporation hospital and in each ward of the city corporation. These centers will be open every day except Fridays and public holidays. Routine vaccinations can also be given from these centers during the campaign.
EPI said additional centers will be set up for vulnerable children and remote areas. These include children living with their mothers in places like shops or markets, factories, rice paddies, street children, children living with their mothers in hospitals, children living with their mothers in jails, children living in prostitution, children living in slums. Vaccination will be administered at these additional centers at the convenience of the vaccinee (afternoon or night). Vaccination campaign will be given in all other centers from 8 am to 3 pm.
Officials from UNICEF, World Health Organization and the Department of Health attended the workshop held at the National Media Institute yesterday. In the event, it was said that the target of measles elimination from Bangladesh was set in December 2026. Elimination means that there will be no person-to-person transmission of measles within a year in the country. If this situation continued for two consecutive years, there was a possibility of getting Haas eradication recognition from the World Health Organization, but due to the ongoing outbreak, this did not happen.
At the workshop, a journalist asked, how many years will Bangladesh take to reach the stage of measles eradication? No response was given by the World Health Organization or UNICEF. In the event, World Health Organization’s Southeast Asia Regional IVD (Immunization and Vaccine Development) Coordinator Dr. Vinod Kumar said, along with the Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign, Bangladesh should continue the regular vaccination program properly. Children will be protected if the vaccination program is correct.
In that event, EPI said that Bangladesh is a densely populated country and measles germs spread quickly. Due to the high birth rate and low vaccination rate in this country, sufficient immunity against measles-rubella has not been developed. The Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign in 2020 resulted in a significant reduction in measles outbreaks. According to disease surveillance data, the incidence of measles continues to increase after 2021 and the incidence of measles will increase many times in 2026. Age analysis shows that 80 percent of the affected people will be under five years of age from 2023 to 2026.
The chief guest of the program, Additional Director General (Planning and Development) of the Department of Health, Prof. Foara Tasmin said, “Child death in measles was not desirable.” We have taken the matter seriously. We have taken whatever steps are necessary to control the infection.
Source: Prothom Alo Bangla
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