The measles outbreak in Bangladesh has reached alarming levels, with five more deaths reported in the last 24 hours, according to a revised press release from the Directorate General of Health Services on Wednesday.
Among the latest fatalities, two occurred in Dhaka division, two in Mymensingh division, and one in Rajshahi division.
From 8:00am on May 26 to 8:00am on May 27, 1,056 new suspected measles patients were identified, while laboratory tests confirmed the presence of measles in 62 individuals, the DGHS said.
Since the outbreak began on March 15, a total of 67,079 suspected measles patients have been identified across the country over the past two and a half months. Among them, 472 people have died from suspected measles.
Laboratory-confirmed measles patients now number 8,834, with 88 confirmed deaths so far.
During this period, 53,463 suspected measles patients have been hospitalised. Of them, 49,903 have recovered and been discharged.
Division-wise analysis shows that Dhaka division remains the epicentre of the outbreak. A total of 31,675 suspected patients have been identified there, with 186 deaths. Confirmed cases in Dhaka number 6,119, including 52 confirmed deaths. In the last 24 hours alone, 512 new patients were identified in the division.
Chattogram division ranks second with 10,833 suspected cases and 44 deaths. Other divisions have also been severely affected: Rajshahi (6,212 suspected cases, 84 deaths), Barisal (5,867, 35 deaths), Khulna (5,001, 21 deaths), Sylhet (3,378, 54 deaths), Mymensingh (2,804, 42 deaths), and Rangpur (1,309, 6 deaths).
