DHAKA — Bangladesh on Sunday launched an emergency measles-rubella vaccination campaign targeting more than 1 million children in the country's worst-affected areas, following a fast-spreading outbreak that has killed about 100 children and caused more than 7,500 suspected infections nationwide, official data showed.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain inaugurated the drive at a health complex near the capital, covering children aged six months to five years across 18 districts with high infection rates. The minister said a nationwide measles-rubella campaign will begin on May 3, extending immunization to all the remaining districts. Authorities have identified 30 of the most affected areas, where vaccination efforts have already begun.

According to the ministry, suspected measles cases among children aged six months to five years have risen sharply to 6,476. Official figures show there have been 17 confirmed deaths from measles so far, with 113 suspected deaths and more than 7,500 suspected infections nationwide. Experts are saying that in many cases, testing was either not done or patients died before testing could be done.

"Compared with past years, the number of affected children is higher, and the death toll is higher too," Halimur Rashid, director at the Communicable Disease Control, told Agence France-Presse.

The largest number of suspected measles cases on record was in 2005 at 25,934, according to data from World Health Organization, though that number had significantly declined until this year.

Rashid attributed the potential outbreak to "multifactorial causes, including a shortage of vaccines".

Bangladesh has made significant advancements in vaccinations to tackle infectious diseases, but a measles drive due in June 2024 was delayed by deadly unrest that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.

Most Bangladeshi children receive a vaccine at nine months, although many infected in the recent outbreak had been six months old, officials added.

Mahmudur Rahman, chief of the National Verification Committee of Measles and Rubella, said that "we committed to reducing the number to zero by December 2025 but failed to achieve the target due to poor vaccination programs."

Tajul Islam A. Bari, a former official at the Expanded Programme on Immunization and a public health expert, said that although funds had been allocated for vaccine purchases, authorities had failed to procure them.

"Now we see the result — the situation is scary," Bari added.

The WHO estimates as many as 95,000 measles deaths globally in 2024, mostly among unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children under the age of five, according to its latest statistics.

Measles is one of the world's most contagious diseases, according to the WHO, and is transmitted when a person coughs or sneezes. While the disease can affect a person of any age, it is most common among children and can cause complications, including brain swelling and severe breathing problems. There is no specific treatment for measles once caught.

Agencies - Xinhua