Bangladesh’s Measles Epidemic Poses Severe Developmental Threats to the Nation’s Youngest

Updated September 27, 2026, at 20:03

Medical professionals have warned that Bangladesh’s youngest children face enduring developmental consequences due to a severe measles outbreak, which has already claimed the lives of more than 1,000 children. The crisis was officially declared on March 15, when the Directorate General of Health Services began publishing daily infection figures. Since then, at least 186,813 suspected cases and 1,087 deaths have been reported, with the majority of infections occurring in children under the age of two.

“I have never in my life seen measles in a three-month-old infant, but I saw it this time,” stated Dr. ASM Mahmuduzzaman, a pediatrics professor at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka, speaking to Arab News. He highlighted concerns over long-term complications for the affected children. While official records indicate nearly 200,000 confirmed and suspected infections, he estimated that the actual figure could reach as high as 500,000.

One of the most dangerous complications of measles is subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a chronic, neurodegenerative illness caused by the persistence of the measles virus in the brain. The symptoms only become apparent after a few years. It is estimated that one in every 1,000 infected children may develop this condition leading to brain damage, while most face immune amnesia and secondary infections.

“Suddenly, with or without fever, they will experience convulsions. If this does not fall into the hands of a specialist or an experienced doctor, the underlying cause of these convulsions will remain unidentified,” Mahmuduzzaman explained. “The manifestations will be like myoclonic jerks. It could involve involuntary movements in a hand, a leg, or a specific muscle group, leading to convulsions. Without proper treatment, it will lead to brain damage.” Diagnosis requires collecting and testing spinal fluid, which can only be carried out in a few places in Bangladesh; testing samples are usually sent to neighboring India.

Bangladesh’s vaccination campaigns had been able to contain measles for decades, but the mass immunization drive that should have taken place in 2024-25 was missed by the caretaker government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which ruled until mid-February this year. When the outbreak was declared a month later, the new government began emergency measles-rubella immunization in early April and vaccinated 20 million children, but this was not enough to contain the outbreak. Another vaccination drive started on Saturday, targeting 3.4 million children who might have been missed earlier. In case of measles, a highly contagious, airborne disease which is especially dangerous to the under-fives, transmission stops only when immunity reaches 95 percent.

“It’s evident that a vaccination failure led us to this measles outbreak. I am not blaming anyone, but there was a gap,” said Mahmuduzzaman. “At the moment, it’s hard to determine how much damage has been done due to this vaccination gap. But due to this outbreak, many children face long-term neurological complications that could leave a portion of a generation disabled.”

According to Dr. Ariful Bashar from Infectious Diseases Hospital Mohakhali in Dhaka, the suppressed immunity caused by measles can trigger various secondary infections. “Cases of other contagious diseases, especially childhood tuberculosis, are likely to increase … Infections of the ear and nose, and other respiratory infections also become more likely,” he said. “Measles consequences can be severe as immunity gets suppressed. It may trigger various secondary infections. These suppressed immunity conditions last for a certain period, usually three to four years, or slightly longer.”

Source link