16-year wait for son turns to grief as infant succumbs to measles

A seven-month-old child named Sajid Al Nahian has died from measles-like symptoms in Cumilla. The child passed away at a private hospital in the capital on Sunday morning, May 17.

Nahian was the son of Parvez Ahmed Sumon of Singraish village in Chauddagram upazila, Cumilla. He was the youngest of four siblings.

The father said the child caught a cold and cough on April 14. Following a doctor's advice, Nahian recovered after taking antibiotics. However, he fell ill again on May 12 and was admitted to Chauddagram Upazila Health Complex. After two days of treatment with no improvement, he was taken to a private hospital in Feni. When his condition remained unchanged, the family moved him to Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Dhaka National Healthcare Hospital, and finally Impulse Hospital in Tejgaon, where he died in the Intensive Care Unit after his condition deteriorated.

Family sources said Parvez and Sultana Akter had been married for a decade and a half. After three daughters, they had been waiting for a son for 16 years. Finally, a son was born in November last year. The child was buried in the family graveyard at his home in Chauddagram in the afternoon.

Chauddagram Upazila Health Complex Health Officer Dr Rashid Ahmed Tofael said the child was admitted with measles-like symptoms. When his condition worsened, they advised the family to take him to Dhaka.