Hospitals overwhelmed as unvaccinated children and malnutrition drive a preventable tragedy across Dhaka and rural districts.
Bangladesh is facing a rapidly escalating measles outbreak that has already claimed the lives of at least 38 children this year, with the vast majority of deaths occurring in March alone. Health facilities in the capital and several districts are struggling under the weight of hundreds of admissions, many involving infants too young for routine vaccination or those who missed scheduled doses. Officials and experts attribute the surge to persistent gaps in the national immunisation programme, compounded by recent disruptions and underlying malnutrition.
Hospitals Overwhelmed in Capital and Beyond
The Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Dhaka’s Mohakhali has borne the brunt of the crisis. As of 29 March, the 100-bed facility had received 560 suspected measles patients this year – more than eight times the 69 cases recorded in the whole of 2025. Of these, 448 were admitted in March alone. Twenty-one children died at IDH this month, including three on 29 March, bringing the hospital’s total measles-related deaths this year to 22. Superintendent Tanzina Jahan said the patient load had eased slightly only because overflow cases were being diverted to Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and other facilities.
At Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, 42 measles patients remained admitted on 29 March and six children had died this year, the latest on 23 March. Acting director Reaz Mubarak noted an unusually high number of infants under six months – an age group not normally seen in such numbers – arriving with severe symptoms. In Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH), 105 patients were admitted in March, five of whom died, including two on 29 March; 66 remained hospitalised.
Rural districts are also severely affected. Chapainawabganj Sadar Hospital reported 250 suspected cases, with four children dying after referral to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH). RMCH itself logged 230 suspected cases and, according to its spokesperson, one confirmed measles death, though local media reports suggest the toll may be higher. Smaller clusters have emerged in Pabna (two deaths in Dhaka hospitals last month), Natore, Sylhet (four confirmed cases out of 20 admissions) and Noakhali (more than 300 infections in the past 15 days, 15 still hospitalised).
Doctors across facilities describe wards filled beyond capacity, with patients placed in corridors. Almost every admitted child has presented with complications – pneumonia, diarrhoea, ear infections or encephalitis – that turn a normally survivable illness into a life-threatening one.
Unvaccinated Children Most at Risk
Physicians say the pattern is stark: the overwhelming majority of serious cases involve unvaccinated children. Consultant ARM Sakhawat Hossain Khan at IDH stated that “almost all the measles patients admitted were unvaccinated.” The routine expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) administers the first dose at nine months and the second at 15 months, yet coverage hovers between 90 and 92 per cent, leaving roughly one in ten children unprotected each year.
Infants under nine months are especially vulnerable because they have not yet received any dose. Malnutrition further weakens immunity, turning even vaccinated children into potential victims. Health experts cited in recent analyses have explicitly warned that low vaccination coverage combined with widespread malnutrition is fuelling the rapid spread in Dhaka hospitals and beyond.
Vaccination Gaps and Programme Disruptions Fuel the Surge
The roots of the current outbreak lie in multiple, overlapping failures of the immunisation system. The last nationwide measles-rubella campaign was held in 2020. A planned 2024 drive was cancelled amid political unrest. Routine services were disrupted at least three times last year by strikes of health assistants who deliver vaccines door-to-door in rural areas. A funding crisis triggered by the suspension of the health sector programme further hampered supply chains and outreach.
Vitamin A supplementation and deworming campaigns – critical for boosting children’s nutritional resilience – were also suspended last year. Public health specialists note that measles outbreaks follow a cyclical pattern every few years precisely because of these accumulated gaps. Director (disease control) at the directorate general of health services (DGHS), Halimur Rashid, explained that with 10 per cent of each birth cohort left unprotected, the virus eventually finds enough susceptible hosts to ignite an epidemic.
The central stock of measles vaccine has now been exhausted, with only a month’s supply left at field level. EPI Director Shahriar Sajjad confirmed that fresh supplies have arrived for a special campaign scheduled to begin in mid-April, but logistical preparations and funding negotiations with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, are still under way. A meeting of the national immunization technical advisory group was held on 30 March to finalise details. Health minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain told reporters that the cabinet has approved a Tk 604 crore proposal for vaccine procurement and has directed all major hospitals to open dedicated measles wards.
Government Response and the Road Ahead
While the special campaign offers hope, officials acknowledge the response has lagged behind the speed of the outbreak. The minister has emphasised that the government is prioritising procurement and hospital readiness, yet experts caution that even a successful April drive will take weeks to show impact. In the meantime, parents are being urged to seek immediate medical care for children showing fever and rash, and hospitals are prioritising supportive care – oxygen, fluids and antibiotics for secondary infections – to reduce mortality.
Public health voices stress that measles is entirely preventable. One infected child can transmit the virus to 13 to 18 others in a susceptible population, making herd immunity above 95 per cent essential. Until routine coverage improves and catch-up campaigns become regular again, similar surges remain a recurring risk.
