Measles: Another child dies in Mymensingh

A measles-hit infant has died after showing symptoms of the disease at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH), taking the total number of fatalities at the facility linked to the illness to 35.

The child, a resident of Diu Village under Phulpur Upazila of the district, was 3-and-a-half months old and passed away around 12:30 pm on Friday, hospital Senior Store Officer Dr Jhontu Sarkar said.

Admissions records put the infant’s arrival at the MMCH on May 20, reports bdnews24.com.

A statement issued on Saturday morning said 29 more children were admitted with measles symptoms in the 24 hours leading up to 8:00 am Saturday.

Five children recovered and were discharged, leaving 100 currently under treatment.

Since Mar 17, a total of 1,560 children have been admitted to the hospital with symptoms, of whom 1,425 have recovered and gone home.

Measles patients first began arriving at the hospital's paediatric ward in February this year, with numbers picking up sharply from mid-March.

A dedicated 64-bed isolation ward is now running at the hospital with three medical teams providing treatment.

Mohammad Golam Mawla, focal person of the measles isolation ward and associate professor, said: “Many children in the country suffer from malnutrition. It raises the risk of infection, and when measles strikes, the complications become far more severe.”

He added that due to the lack of an intensive care unit, critical patients are being treated using the "bubble CPAP" method, while those whose conditions deteriorate further are transferred to Dhaka.