THURSDAY, May 28, 2026 (HealthDay News) — More than 500 children suspected or confirmed to have measles have died in Bangladesh since March, according to the country's health ministry.

While the exact number is unconfirmed, suspected cases are estimated to have topped 60,000 in just over two months, the BBC reported. Doctors and nurses treating patients with the virus have had their Eid holiday leave canceled as hospitals in the South Asian country struggle to save lives and slow the spread, the health minister said.

UNICEF described the situation it saw in hospitals as overwhelming. It said its staff is helping hospitals isolate and triage children as needed, according to multiple reports.  

Al Amin, whose daughter died of measles 27 days after the first of five hospital admissions, is tortured by thinking she may have picked up the virus in the hospital.

"From the ticket counter line to the X-ray room, there was a measles patient everywhere," he told BBC. 

People are traveling to cities from areas where they can’t get help from local health clinics.

"Poor people do not usually come to government hospitals until the last moment, as they have to buy medicine and tests," said Mushtaq Husain, former principal scientific officer at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research. He told BBC that if there were better health care resources at a local level, fewer would need emergency hospitalization.

UNICEF identified several factors that increased the risk of infection. 

These included clusters of cases since 2023 where children weren’t up to date on routine vaccination; high population density in certain areas; and major travel for holidays, according to Rana Flowers, Bangladesh country head for UNICEF. 

"It feels like a bit of a perfect storm," she said during a news conference.

One particular factor that UNICEF noticed was delays in ordering vaccines, which it attributed to changes in the way the country bought them – a shift led by the interim government. UNICEF flagged these delays on multiple occasions.

"I can tell you I sat with the interim advisor and staff on at least 10 occasions," Flowers told BBC, "Saying 'we are worried, look at my face, I am worried you are going to face an outage.' "

Dr. Md Sayedur Rahman, a former special assistant in the health ministry, said in a social media post that the vaccine procurement process remained unchanged during the interim government.

"A regular and consistent collaborative relationship regarding vaccine matters was maintained with UNICEF," he added.

Bangladesh launched an emergency vaccination campaign in April, which UNICEF said has helped flatten the curve in highly affected areas. Those areas were prioritized first by the campaign. 

Although the vaccine's full nationwide impact will take time to be seen, it has helped reduce the number of new infections, according to UNICEF. 

Bangladesh's minister of health and family welfare, Sardar?Sakhawat ?Hossain, expects the number to start dropping soon.

"It takes three to four weeks after the vaccination to create antibodies in the babies," he said. "We expect by next week, Inshallah, it will come down."

While measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, measles cases and outbreaks continue to occur due to unvaccinated international travelers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The virus can easily cross borders and spread to those who are not protected. 

More information 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the measles outbreak.

SOURCE: BBC, May 26, 2026