Bangladesh has launched an emergency vaccination campaign after a fast-spreading measles outbreak is suspected of killing more than 100 people, mostly children, in what may be the country's most lethal wave of the disease in recent history.
The campaign, which began on Sunday, comes amid more than 7,500 suspected measles cases since 15 March, according to health ministry data.
More than 900 of these cases have been confirmed - a sharp increase from 2025, when just 125 measles cases were recorded over the entire year, local media report.
While Bangladesh has long vaccinated children against the highly contagious disease, the recent outbreak has exposed gaps in its programme, raising concern.
Vaccines are foundational to child survival, said Rana Flowers, the Unicef representative in Bangladesh, emphasizing that the current outbreak puts thousands of children, especially the youngest and most vulnerable, at serious risk.
Why is there a spike in measles in Bangladesh?
In Bangladesh, a nation of 170 million people, routine measles vaccines are given to children as young as nine months old. However, Shahriar Sajjad, deputy director of the Health Department, noted that about one-third of those infected in the recent outbreak were under nine months old, raising significant alarms.
The infections of these young infants, who are not yet eligible for routine vaccination, are especially alarming, according to Flowers from Unicef.
Regular vaccination campaigns have not been conducted since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent political turmoil, leaving the population vulnerable.
A measles vaccination campaign planned for April did not occur, and procurement issues have led to vaccine shortages, further complicating efforts to control the outbreak.
Measles resurgences are typically the result of these accumulated gaps rather than a single factor, Unicef stated, emphasizing Bangladesh's strong history of high immunisation coverage.
What is Bangladesh doing about it?
In partnership with organizations like Unicef and the World Health Organization (WHO), Bangladesh launched an emergency vaccination campaign targeting measles and rubella. This campaign aims to immunize over 1.2 million children between six months and five years old, focusing on vulnerable groups and regions with high population density.
Health authorities are also disseminating information on how to identify and prevent measles as part of the awareness efforts.
What is measles?
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease that can lead to severe complications and death. Symptoms include high fever, sore eyes, and coughing. Globally, measles resulted in approximately 95,000 deaths in 2024, mostly among children under five, and WHO mandates a vaccination coverage of 95% to halt its spread.
Are measles cases rising around the world?
Although global measles cases and deaths have declined significantly over the past two decades, the WHO has warned of a resurgence as vaccination rates plummet. The world saw the highest number of measles outbreaks in over 20 years in 2024 and 2025, indicating a pressing need for renewed vaccination efforts and public trust in immunization.
