Six more people have died in Bangladesh after developing measles-like symptoms in the past 24 hours, although no death from laboratory-confirmed measles was reported during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Of the six deaths, five were reported in Dhaka Division and one in Barishal Division, the DGHS said in its regular measles situation report issued Tuesday (August 31).
The report said 1,162 people developed measles-like symptoms across the country over the past 24 hours.
During the same period, another 94 cases of measles were confirmed.
Since March 15, the number of suspected measles infections in the country has reached 157,991, while a total of 19,312 people have been diagnosed with confirmed measles, including the 94 new cases reported in the latest 24-hour period.
According to DGHS data, 874 people have died after developing measles-like symptoms since March 15.
During the same period, 99 children have died from confirmed measles.
This brings the combined number of deaths from confirmed measles and measles-like illnesses in Bangladesh this year to 973.
Of the total:
99 deaths were from confirmed measles 874 deaths involved measles-like symptoms
The figures highlight the continued severity of the country's ongoing measles situation, particularly among children and vulnerable patients.
DGHS data further showed that 138,445 people have been admitted to hospitals with measles-like symptoms across Bangladesh since March 15.
Of them, 133,404 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.
The health authorities are continuing to monitor suspected and confirmed measles cases as the number of infections and symptom-related deaths remains high across different parts of the country.
