Four more people died with measles symptoms in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of deaths linked to confirmed measles and measles symptoms since 15 March to 844, the Directorate General of Health Services said on Sunday.
Of the total deaths, 748 were among people with measles symptoms and 96 were from confirmed measles, according to the health authorities.
The Directorate General of Health Services said Dhaka division recorded the highest number of deaths with measles symptoms at 325. Sylhet division followed with 111 deaths. The other divisions recorded 91 deaths in Rajshahi, 71 in Mymensingh, 61 in Chattogram, 45 in Barishal, 32 in Khulna and 12 in Rangpur.
Regular statistics released by the health authorities do not include an age-wise breakdown of the deaths. Epidemiologists said measles can affect people of all ages, although children are more commonly infected.
Government data showed that, in the 24 hours until 8:00am on Sunday, 870 new people developed measles symptoms across the country. Since 15 March, a total of 127,410 people have shown measles symptoms nationwide.
During the same 24-hour period, laboratory tests newly confirmed measles in 115 people, taking the total number of confirmed measles cases since 15 March to 16,295.
Health authorities also reported that 1,022 people were newly identified with measles symptoms in the past 24 hours. The cumulative number of identified measles-symptom cases since 15 March has now reached 130,083.
Hospital admission data showed that 112,620 people have been admitted to hospital with measles symptoms since 15 March. Of them, 108,283 were discharged after recovery.
