Bangladesh recorded three more deaths with measles symptoms in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of deaths from confirmed measles and measles-like symptoms to 863 since 15 March, the Directorate General of Health Services said on Friday.
Of the total deaths, 767 were among people with measles symptoms, while 96 died from confirmed measles.
The health authorities said Dhaka division has recorded the highest number of deaths with measles symptoms so far, at 334. Sylhet division followed with 119 deaths. Rajshahi recorded 91 deaths, Mymensingh 72, Chattogram 61, Barishal 45, Khulna 32 and Rangpur 13.
According to government data, 1,017 people developed measles symptoms across the country in the 24 hours until 8:00am on Friday. Since 15 March, a total of 134,655 people have shown measles symptoms nationwide.
In the same 24-hour period, 201 new measles cases were confirmed. With that, the number of confirmed measles patients in the country has reached 16,941 since 15 March.
Hospital admission data showed that 116,822 people have been admitted to hospital with measles symptoms since 15 March. Of them, 112,525 have been discharged after treatment and recovery.
The Directorate General of Health Services’ regular statistics do not include an age-wise breakdown of the deaths. Epidemiologists said measles can affect people of all ages, though children are more commonly infected.