74% of measles patients unvaccinated: DGHS

Seventy-four per cent of children infected with measles in the ongoing outbreak have not received any vaccine, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has said. Among the remaining patients, 14 per cent received only the first dose, and 12 per cent were infected despite receiving both doses .

Dr Riad Mahmud, Health Manager (Immunisation) of UNICEF Bangladesh, presented these findings at a briefing at the DGHS conference room on Wednesday, April 28.

A special immunisation campaign launched on April 5 in 30 upazilas has significantly reduced the rate of new measles cases in those areas over the past three weeks. Officials believe the infection situation may come under further control by the end of May.

DGHS Director General Professor Dr Prabhat Chandra Bishwas said there are limitations in analysing child deaths from measles from a humanitarian perspective, and diagnostic complexities are causing delays in case confirmation.

Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) vaccines are expected to arrive in the country early next month. Isolation facilities are currently operational in all hospitals across the country. DGHS officials expressed hope that the situation will improve rapidly.