Bangladesh Measles Outbreak Has Killed Over 500 Children

A fast-moving virus is quietly tearing through Bangladesh, and it's not hantavirus or Ebola. As NPR reports, the country has recorded more than 60,000 suspected measles cases and at least 528 suspected deaths since March, overwhelmingly among children under 5. Hospitals in Dhaka are overflowing; some kids share intensive care beds, others lie on thin mattresses on the floor. Doctors describe a system pushed past its limits, with staff and supply shortages and parents turned away from facilities that simply have no space.

The outbreak marks a sharp reversal for a country once held up as a vaccination success story. NPR's Ali Asif Shawon and Gabrielle Emanuel detail how an 18-month interim government disrupted vaccine supplies and stalled immunization campaigns despite repeated warnings from UNICEF, WHO, and others that a crisis was coming. Malnutrition has made children more vulnerable, driving higher complication and death rates than in richer nations. A new government has now launched a massive catch-up campaign, vaccinating an estimated 18 million children to date, but experts say it will take weeks to see an impact. For the full on-the-ground reporting and data, read the piece at NPR.