Child Dies Amid Measles Surge

Another child showing symptoms of measles has died at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, raising the number of deaths among hospitalised children this year to 35. During the same period, 29 more children were admitted with measles-like symptoms, while 100 children remain under treatment at the hospital.

Hospital sources said the deceased was a three-and-a-half-year-old girl from Fulpur Upazila in Mymensingh district. She was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, 20 May, and died at approximately 12:50pm on Friday, 22 May.

According to the child’s death certificate, she had been suffering not only from symptoms consistent with measles but also from pneumonia and heart failure. Hospital authorities did not provide additional details regarding her medical history.

Officials at the hospital stated that between 8:00am on Friday and 8:00am on Saturday, another 29 children were admitted with symptoms associated with measles. Over the same 24-hour period, five children recovered and were discharged from the hospital. No patients required referral to Dhaka for advanced treatment during that time.

Hospital data shows that from 17 March until Saturday morning, a total of 1,560 children with measles-like symptoms were admitted to the hospital. Of them, 1,425 have recovered and returned home.

The latest figures from the hospital are summarised below:

Hospital authorities said a small number of children began arriving with measles symptoms in February this year. However, patient admissions increased rapidly from the middle of March.

In response to the growing number of cases, the hospital established a separate 64-bed measles isolation ward. Three medical teams are currently providing treatment and monitoring services there.

The hospital administration said the dedicated ward continues to operate to manage the increasing number of paediatric patients requiring care for measles-related complications and symptoms.