Measles: 40pc of children died within two days of hospital admission

Amidst the ongoing outbreak, some three or four months old infants have also died of measles. There is little difference between the number of boys and girls among the deaths. It has been observed that 40 per cent of the children died within two days of being admitted to hospital.

This picture on the 60 children has been obtained from the Management Information System (MIS) of the Directorate General of Health Services. According to the data, laboratory tests confirmed that the children had measles. However, it is not known whether the children who died had received vaccinations.

According to the latest 24-hour report from the health directorate’s Integrated Control Room (from 8:00 am Monday to 8:00 am Tuesday), six people died with measles symptoms and three died from confirmed measles — meaning another nine deaths in a single day.

As a result, from 15 March to yesterday, Tuesday, a total of 356 people have died with measles symptoms and 68 from confirmed measles this year. Public health experts believe all 424 deaths were due to measles.

Until now, it was commonly believed that very young infants did not contract measles. Babies are born with immunity inherited from their mothers during pregnancy, and breastfeeding also provides protection after birth. However, following this outbreak, it has emerged that even newborns aged 19 days and 24 days have contracted measles.

A baby boy from Dhaka was admitted to Universal Medical College Hospital in the capital’s Mohakhali area on 18 April. He died the same day. The child was three months old. Three more children also died at the age of three months.

Data from the DGHS show that 29 children between the ages of three and eight months died. In other words, nearly half of the deceased children had not received vaccines because, under the previous vaccination schedule, they were not yet old enough to receive them.

Twenty-one children aged between 9 and 15 months died. Two children aged between 16 months and 2 years died. Seven children between the ages of 2 and 5 also died. A nine-year-old girl from Chandpur died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on 9 April. MIS does not have information on whether these 31 children had received vaccinations. Among the deceased children, 31 were boys and 29 were girls.

Information on how long after hospital admission the children died is not available for all cases. Five children died at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, Infectious Diseases Hospital, Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, and Padma General Hospital, where the dates of death are recorded but the dates of admission are missing.

Analysis of the available dates shows that five children died on the same day they were admitted. Nine children died within one day of admission. Another nine died within two days. Altogether, 24 children died within the first 48 hours after admission. This means 40 per cent of the deaths occurred within the first two days of hospitalisation.

Seventeen children died after staying in hospital for 10 days or more. One child died 37 days after admission.

The highest number of child deaths occurred at DMCH, where 15 children died. Of them, 11 had come from districts outside Dhaka. The second-highest number of deaths occurred at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, where 10 children died, including six referred from hospitals outside Dhaka. Among private hospitals, the highest number of deaths occurred at Enam Medical College Hospital, where six children died.

Reviewing the data on the 60 child deaths shows that 18 children were from Dhaka district. Thirty children came from other districts and received treatment at various hospitals in Dhaka. In total, 48 children died in hospitals in Dhaka, while the remaining 12 died in hospitals outside the capital.

For the past two weeks, public health experts and journalists have been demanding the publication of comprehensive information on children who died from measles.

However, the data collected by MIS contain significant gaps. There is no information on whether the children had previously received treatment at other hospitals, whether they had been vaccinated, or whether they were in intensive care units at the time of death.

Public health expert and former director of the government’s disease control unit (CDC), Be-Nazir Ahmed, told Prothom Alo, “It is very unfortunate that vaccination information is missing here.”

Stating that at least 31 of the deceased children were supposed to have received vaccines, he further said, “There is no way to know how many of them had been vaccinated, how many had received the full two doses, or how many died after vaccination. This can only be determined through a proper review of the death data. That is what should be done.”