Dhaka: Five children have died with measles-like symptoms in the 24 hours leading up to 8:00 am on Monday, increasing the nation’s cumulative count of confirmed and suspected measles-related deaths to 878 this year.

According to United News of Bangladesh, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has classified the latest five fatalities as suspected measles deaths, with no confirmed deaths from the disease reported during this period. This development brings the total number of suspected measles deaths to 780, while the number of confirmed deaths from measles remains unchanged at 98.

In the same 24-hour timeframe, a total of 992 new suspected measles cases have been reported, raising the nationwide cumulative number of suspected cases to 137,312. Additionally, 163 new confirmed measles cases have been recorded, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed infections to 17,278.

Since March 15 of this year, 119,322 patients with suspected measles have been hospitalised across the country. Of these, 115,139 have recovered, as per DGHS data, highlighting the ongoing public health challenge posed by the disease.