Dhaka, June 1 (IANS) As Bangladesh grapples with an escalating measles outbreak, three more children died from the symptoms of the diesease on Monday, raising the total number of confirmed and suspected deaths to 588 since March 15 this year, local media reported.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the deaths were reported in the 24 hours leading up to Monday morning.

Among the latest fatalities, all were identified as suspected, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.

Reports suggest that while the number of confirmed deaths remained at 90, the total number of suspected deaths climbed to 498.

The DGHS recorded a total of 1,134 suspected measles cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall tally of suspected cases to 72,070.

Additionally, 45 new confirmed cases were reported, increasing the total to 9,094 during the same period.

Amid the worsening health crisis in Bangladesh, the measles cases and deaths continue to rise across the country despite the conclusion of the preliminary phase for the one-and-a-half-month special measles-rubella vaccination drive on May 20, Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Daily Star, reported.

The data from DGHS showed that daily cases exceeded 1,000 per day throughout the last month with exceptions only on May 9, 16 and 23.

Last month, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said that it had repeatedly warned the country’s earlier interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, both through written communication and meetings with Health Ministry officials, about vaccine shortages that could trigger a major health crisis, local media reported.

Addressing a press briefing in Dhaka, Rana Flowers, UNICEF representative to Bangladesh, said that the UN agency sent five to six letters to the health authorities on the issue and raised the matter in 10 meetings during the tenure of the previous interim government.

“From 2024, we were warning the government that the shortage of vaccines could lead to an outbreak. From 2024 to 2025 and into 2026, we sent letters, and we had 10 different meetings signalling this was a problem and that orders for vaccines needed to be given. They could not,” The Daily Star quoted Flowers as saying.

According to Flowers, Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, raised concerns over vaccine shortages at a meeting with the Foreign Ministry during his visit to Bangladesh in August last year.

She added that the UN agency would provide evidence to assist the investigation launched by the current Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government on the measles outbreak.

–IANS

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