Three more children died with measles-like symptoms in the 24 hours ending Monday with bringing the country’s total death toll from confirmed and suspected measles to 1,099 since March 15.
According to a Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) press release also no new deaths were recorded from confirmed measles during this period. However three children died with suspected measles symptoms with taking total deaths in the suspected category to 998 since mid-March. Confirmed measles deaths remain at 101.
Health authorities reported 96 new confirmed measles cases in the past 24 hours, raising the total confirmed cases to 21,308 since March 15. Additionally 1,214 new suspected cases were identified also pushing the total number of suspected cases to 189,255 nationwide.
The outbreak has led to widespread hospitalizations across the country. DGHS data shows that 167,469 suspected measles patients have been admitted to various hospitals since March 15. Of these 160,705 patients have fully recovered and been discharged.
Health officials continue to monitor hospitalizations and advise parents to ensure timely vaccination and seek immediate medical care if children exhibit symptoms such as high fever, rash and respiratory distress.
