Measles Death Toll in Sylhet Division Reaches 202: Two More Children Die in a Day, 125 Newly Admitted
The number of confirmed and suspected measles deaths in Sylhet Division has crossed two hundred and now reached 202. In the last 24 hours, two more children have died with suspected measles. In the same period, 125 people were newly admitted to hospital as suspected measles patients. The figures were released on Saturday (24 October) in a report from the office of the Sylhet Divisional Director of the Directorate General of Health Services.
According to the report, the two children who died in the last 24 hours were admitted to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital. One was just three months old, the other ten months. Both children were residents of Sunamganj district. Their deaths have so far been recorded as suspected measles deaths.
According to the death figures given in the health department's report, suspected measles deaths in the division so far number 192, while confirmed measles deaths number 10. Together, suspected and confirmed measles deaths stand at 202.
By district, the largest share of deaths is in Sylhet and Sunamganj. Sylhet has 79 suspected measles deaths and four confirmed deaths. Sunamganj has 70 suspected deaths and one confirmed, Habiganj has 28 and four respectively, and Moulvibazar has 15 and one.
The infection count is also large. According to the report, from 1 January this year until now, the number of confirmed measles patients in Sylhet Division is 1,115. Of them, 442 are in Sylhet district, 357 in Sunamganj, 158 in Moulvibazar and 158 in Habiganj. The Habiganj figure also includes two people infected with rubella.
The pressure of new admissions is not easing either. In the last 24 hours, 125 people were newly admitted to hospital as suspected measles patients. Of them, 60 were admitted to Sylhet's Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmad Hospital, 48 to MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, six to Ragib-Rabeya Medical College Hospital and 11 to Moulvibazar Sadar Hospital.
At present, 468 people are under treatment for suspected measles at various hospitals in the division. Of them, 200 are at MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, 168 at Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmad Hospital, 30 at Moulvibazar Sadar Hospital, 22 at Ragib-Rabeya Medical College Hospital, 20 at Parkview Hospital, 19 at Sunamganj Sadar Hospital, five at North East Hospital, and two each at the Biswanath and Companiganj upazila health complexes.
The numbers say the outbreak is still not under control. New patients are being admitted every day, the number under treatment has crossed four and a half hundred, and new names keep being added to the death toll — the large share of them children, including babies only a few months old.
Amid this situation across the division, anxiety is growing among relatives and local residents. With hospitals crowded with children under treatment, daily new admissions and news of deaths, fear of measles has spread among people throughout Sylhet Division.
The question now is what urgent steps are being taken on the ground, beyond the health department's daily accounting, to stop this trend, and how quickly they will bear fruit. The divisional health office's coming reports will show whether the curve of infections and deaths is turning downward.
