Bangladesh is battling its worst measles outbreak in years, killing more than 100 children and increasing the number of unvaccinated infants.
The government, in partnership with the United Nations, has begun an emergency measles-rubella vaccination campaign for children across the country, after more than 900 cases were confirmed since March.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease that causes fever, respiratory symptoms, and a characteristic rash and can sometimes lead to serious or fatal complications, especially in young children.
While there have been huge gains in mass vaccination against measles, there has been a recent resurgence, attributed to declining vaccination rates, with more than 11 million cases reported globally in 2024. A deadly outbreak occurred in Britain this year, killing two people, and states across the US are also grappling with the deadly spread, with more than 2,000 cases reported in 2025, the worst in three decades.
In Bangladesh, the surge in cases that began in March is the worst the South Asian country has seen in years. While Bangladesh has a children’s vaccination program for measles, the newly elected government said mismanagement by previous governments has led to a curtailment of the program in vulnerable areas and depleted vaccine stocks. According to the United Nations, 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated to stop the disease from spreading.
This month’s emergency campaign will focus on children aged six months to five years in high-risk districts and will then be expanded across the country.
One-third of those affected are under nine months of age, which is the time when they would normally be eligible for the measles vaccine, which experts said shows a worrying gap in the program.
“This resurgence highlights significant immunity gaps, particularly among zero-dose and under-vaccinated children, while infections in infants under nine months of age, who are not yet eligible for routine vaccination, are particularly worrying,” said Rana Flowers, UNICEF representative in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s political turmoil over the past two years following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in an uprising in 2024 led to disrupted vaccine procurement and failure to conduct a normal measles vaccination campaign, Bangladesh’s newly appointed Health Minister Sardar Mohammad Sakhawat Hossain told Parliament on Monday. The current government came to power in the elections held in February.
Officials are advising parents to go to a hospital whenever they suspect they have measles or have a fever rather than relying on local pharmacies.
Since the start of the mass vaccination campaign in 1979, Bangladesh has increased the coverage of fully vaccinated children from only 2% to 81.6%. However, experts continue to warn that there are still huge discrepancies in measles vaccine coverage in the country of 170 million people.
In a statement, UNICEF said the current measles surge is due to several factors. “Bangladesh has a strong history of high vaccination coverage, but even small disruptions can lead to the gradual accumulation of immunity gaps over time,” the organization said.
