Bangladesh Measles Outbreak: Nearly 100 Children Dead as Emergency Vaccination Begins

Bangladesh has launched an emergency vaccination campaign following a fast-spreading measles outbreak that is suspected of killing more than 100 people, primarily children, since March 15, 2026. The campaign, which began on April 5, 2026, targets more than a million children as the government attempts to contain what may be the most lethal wave of the disease in the country’s recent history.

The outbreak has seen a rapid increase in cases over a short period. According to health ministry data, there have been more than 7,500 suspected measles cases since March 15, 2026. Of these, more than 900 cases have been confirmed, marking a sharp increase from 2025, when only 125 measles cases were recorded over the entire year.

Scale and Impact of the Outbreak

Official data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released on April 5, 2026, indicated that the number of children aged six months to five years showing suspected measles symptoms soared to 6,476. Within this specific age group, confirmed cases stood at 826, with 16 deaths recorded.

However, health experts noted that these confirmed figures may not reflect the full scale of the crisis. In many instances, testing was either not performed or patients died before diagnostic testing could be carried out.

Halimur Rashid, the director at Communicable Disease Control, stated that both the number of affected children and the death toll are higher than in previous years. While the largest number of suspected cases on record occurred in 2005 with 25,934 cases, those numbers had declined significantly in the years following until the current spike in 2026.

Vaccination Gaps and Vulnerable Populations

The current crisis has exposed critical gaps in Bangladesh’s immunization programs. In the nation of 170 million people, routine measles vaccines are typically administered to children as young as nine months old. However, this outbreak has disproportionately affected infants who are not yet eligible for these routine shots.

Shahriar Sajjad, deputy director of the Health Department, told BBC Bangla that approximately one-third of those infected in the recent outbreak were under nine months old.

Rana Flowers, the Unicef representative in Bangladesh, highlighted the danger facing the youngest infants, stating that these infections are especially alarming because the children are not yet eligible for routine vaccination.

Vaccines are foundational to child survival, and the current measles outbreak was putting thousands of children, especially the youngest and most vulnerable, at serious risk.

Rana Flowers, Unicef representative in Bangladesh

Beyond routine vaccinations, Bangladesh typically conducts special measles vaccination campaigns every four years. Reports indicate that these specific campaigns have not proceeded according to plan, contributing to the current vulnerability of the population.

Government Response and Coordination

The government of Bangladesh has mobilized high-level resources to coordinate a response. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman directed two senior ministers to travel across the country to assess the scale of the crisis and help coordinate the medical response. Health Minister Sardar Shakhawat has also been involved in the rollout of the vaccination program.

Efforts are currently being intensified in the worst-affected areas, with the capital city, Dhaka, ramping up vaccination efforts to stem the spread of the highly contagious disease, which is transmitted when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

When discussing the cause of the spike, Halimur Rashid attributed the potential outbreak to multifactorial causes, including a shortage of vaccines.

The emergency drive initiated on April 5, 2026, represents a critical attempt to close the immunity gap and prevent further child mortality as the country grapples with this surge in measles cases.