Bangladesh measles deaths pass 1,000 as vaccination gaps persist

Bangladesh’s measles outbreak has killed more than 1,000 children and infected tens of thousands more, as a nationwide vaccination campaign that reached 18 million children still missed millions in a country now facing the world’s largest ongoing measles outbreak.

The Directorate General of Health Services reported that the death toll from suspected or confirmed measles cases since March 15 passed 1,000 on Sept. 9, NPR reported. Al Jazeera, citing health officials, reported at least 1,002 child deaths and 187,484 infections since the outbreak began in March.

The scale of the crisis has grown despite early hopes that Bangladesh could bring the disease under control. In April, Health Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Husain said, “Measles outbreak has somewhat decreased in the country. Once the nationwide vaccination campaign begins on April 20, the situation will improve further.”

That campaign aimed to vaccinate 18 million children ages 6 months to 5 years, even those whose records showed prior vaccination. Officials surpassed that target with 18.4 million vaccinations. But health experts now say the true target was 22.6 million children, leaving a significant immunization gap.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that Bangladesh had more measles cases than any other country from January to June, with 57,561 cases, according to NPR. On Aug. 31 alone, authorities recorded 1,162 suspected cases and 94 confirmed cases in 24 hours.

“Many children have still not received the measles vaccine, so we cannot go into a relaxed mode,” Tajul Abdul Bari, a vaccine expert and former program manager of Bangladesh’s Expanded Programme on Immunization, told NPR. “We need to start a new vaccination campaign, potentially covering children from 6 months up to under 10 years of age. We did something similar in 2014.”

Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, president of Médecins Sans Frontières International, said the response must focus on immunization. “The management of a measles outbreak is vaccinating. Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate,” he told NPR. “Measles has a very specific biology. It is highly transmissible. One case of measles can affect 100 others.”

A UNICEF situation report said 72% of cases are among people who received no doses of the two-dose vaccine, while 16% are partially vaccinated. Dr. Jahangir Alam, the World Health Organization’s divisional coordinator for Dhaka, said, “Even small gaps in immunization coverage can trigger outbreaks. Every missed child increases the risk.”

Al Jazeera reported that the WHO and UNICEF linked the crisis to gaps in Bangladesh’s immunization programme that emerged in 2024 and 2025, during political turmoil after the ousting of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Health Minister Husain told parliament that procurement policy changes during that period created a vaccine shortage, according to Al Jazeera.

Professor Mahmudur Rahman, former director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research in Dhaka, told Reuters that the outbreak was unprecedented. “To my knowledge, Bangladesh has never witnessed so many children dying from measles. Nor have we ever seen such a high number of patients in a single year. This is a truly terrible situation, and the saddest part is that the victims are children,” he said.

Malnutrition has worsened the toll. Colonel Latifa Rahman, director of Mohakhali DNCC Hospital in Dhaka, said children who are underweight or have multiple medical conditions suffer more severely. Malnutrition can also weaken vaccine-derived immunity.

Bangladesh announced Aug. 18 that it would vaccinate another 1.6 million children and move to procure 2.5 million more doses. Former Health Services Division Secretary Md Kamruzzaman Chowdhury said officials identified pockets of missed children and had spoken with UNICEF about purchasing vaccines.

State Minister for Health Dr. M.A. Muhit warned against quick promises. “There is no scope for unrealistic assurances. Even if the pace of vaccination were doubled, it would still take another two to three months to bring the measles outbreak fully under control,” he said Aug. 19.

The outbreak is also straining families and hospitals. A Red Crescent and IFRC assessment found nearly nine in 10 affected households borrowed money for treatment, while six in 10 exhausted their savings. Al Jazeera reported that hospitals are also handling a dengue surge, with more than 45,000 dengue admissions.

Toriqul Islam, whose 10-month-old son died of measles on May 9, told NPR: “When fate turns against you, this is what happens. I don’t know if there is any greater pain in this world. Let the government do whatever they want, but all I want is for no one to die.”