Bangladesh Measles Outbreak Claims 1,009 Lives As Immunity Gaps Widen

Bangladesh is facing a severe measles outbreak that has killed 1,009 people since mid-March, exposing widening immunity gaps caused by declining routine vaccination coverage and disrupted immunisation services.

Health Ministry data showed 100 laboratory-confirmed measles deaths and 909 suspected fatalities by September 9.

Authorities have vaccinated 19.75 million children through an emergency campaign launched in April.

The campaign initially targeted around 18 million children aged six months to under five years.

Public health experts, however, said authorities underestimated the number of children requiring vaccination. They warned that national coverage figures can conceal communities where large groups of susceptible children remain.

Bangladesh’s 2023 Coverage Evaluation Survey found first-dose measles-rubella coverage fell to 86 per cent in 2023, from 88.6 per cent in 2019. Second-dose coverage dropped to 80.7 per cent, compared with 89 per cent during the same period.

Health experts say measles transmission generally requires around 95 per cent vaccination coverage to stop sustained spread.

Bangladesh had not conducted a nationwide supplementary measles-rubella vaccination campaign since December 2020-January 2021, before the current outbreak.

The prolonged gap allowed susceptible children to accumulate over successive years.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routine immunisation services. UNICEF has identified misinformation and vaccine hesitancy as additional barriers to vaccination.

Mushtuq Hussain, former principal scientific officer at Bangladesh’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, said political changes delayed vaccine procurement and contributed to shortages during 2024 and 2025.

Cases rose sharply in January 2026 and surged through March. Bangladesh notified the World Health Organisation of a nationwide outbreak on April 4. By mid-April, authorities had reported cases across 58 of the country’s 64 districts.

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