Five more children die of measles symptoms in 24 hours

Five more children succumbed to measles-like symptoms over the past 24 hours, the Directorate General of Health Services reported Monday, as the country's protracted outbreak shows no discernible sign of abating, with 1,155 fresh cases -- symptomatic and confirmed combined -- recorded nationwide in the same period.

Between Sunday and Monday morning, 992 people newly presented with measles-like symptoms while 163 cases were laboratory-confirmed, though none of the day's fatalities stemmed from confirmed infection; all five deceased children were undergoing treatment for symptomatic illness, three in Dhaka division and two in Sylhet. The cumulative picture since 15 March is considerably starker: 137,312 people have exhibited symptoms, of whom 17,278 tested positive, while 878 deaths have been recorded in total -- the overwhelming majority, some 780, attributed to symptomatic cases rather than confirmed measles, underscoring experts' insistence that surveillance must account for both categories to grasp the outbreak's true scale.

Read More: 6 more die with measles symptoms in 24 hours

Immunisation gaps remain the crux of the crisis. A study of 341 children admitted to Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute found that 80 percent had received no measles vaccine, with the youngest -- those under six months, not yet eligible for routine dosing --comprising a disproportionate share of both infections and fatalities; separate analysis found 91 percent of 337 children who died from measles had never been vaccinated. The government maintains its emergency measles-rubella campaign has now inoculated over 21.2 million children, exceeding its original target, and insists hospital capacity has been reinforced accordingly -- yet with tens of thousands still falling ill and hundreds dead since March, health officials continue to press for intensified efforts to trace unvaccinated and hard-to-reach children, particularly infants too young for routine immunisation.