At least 98 children have died from measles in Bangladesh in the past three weeks, with the highest number of cases in the capital Dhaka.
According to the Ministry of Health, the number of suspected measles cases among children under 5 has reached 6,476. Officially confirmed cases are 826, and at least 16 have died. In many cases, children have not been tested or died without results.
Experts attribute the main reasons for the spread of the disease to a shortage of vaccines and problems in vaccination programs. In Bangladesh, children are usually vaccinated at 9 months of age, but most of the recent cases have been children as young as 6 months. Now the capital's administration has launched an emergency vaccination campaign in 30 of the most at-risk areas.
Measles is a highly contagious disease that mainly affects children. It can be prevented through vaccination, and there is no specific treatment.
