82% of children who died from measles lacked breastfeeding for first 6 months: Study
The study also finds 97% of children who were eligible for vaccination but had not received a single dose tested positive for measles.
Nearly 82% of children who died from measles were not exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life, while 97% who had reached the eligible age but received no measles vaccine tested positive for the disease, according to a study.
The research, jointly conducted by Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute and the icddr,b, analysed 354 children undergoing treatment for measles at the hospital. Its findings were presented at a workshop on "Measles Outbreak and Genetic Surveillance" at the hospital in Dhaka's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar today (19 August).
The study was conducted from March to July 2026, and samples were collected from children aged zero to 14 years.
Professor Dr Mirza Md Ziaul Islam, director of Shishu Hospital, and Dr Mustafizur Rahman, senior scientist and head of the Virology Department of the icddr,b, presented the study's key findings and data at an event chaired by Professor Dr AKM Azizul Haque, chairman of Shishu Hospital.
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The study found that a new strain of the virus did not cause the measles outbreak, but rather the spread of the highly contagious "B3" strain, coupled with gaps in vaccination coverage and maternal antibodies received through breastfeeding.
Researchers said children aged six to nine months, particularly those suffering from malnutrition, faced the highest risk of infection and death as maternal immunity declines rapidly before nine months of age and routine vaccination is often delayed or missed.
Some 65% of the children with measles suffered from malnutrition, with 12% experiencing severe malnutrition and 53% moderate malnutrition, according to the study.
The findings also found that 38% of infected children had not been exclusively breastfed during their first six months. Among the children who died, the proportion was 82%.
The researchers divided 341 children into four groups based on age and vaccination status: 146 children below nine months, who were not yet eligible for routine measles vaccination; 142, or 97.3%, tested positive for measles.
Among 126 children who were old enough to receive the vaccine but had received no dose, 122, or 97%, tested positive. Of the 48 children who had received one dose, 44, or 92%, tested positive.
Meanwhile, 16 of 21 children who had received the recommended two doses tested positive, a rate of 76%.
Researchers cautioned that the 76% figure should not be interpreted as the infection rate among all fully vaccinated children, as all participants were hospitalised with suspected measles. The finding applies only to the 21 two-dose vaccinated children included in the hospital-based study.
They said further investigation is needed to determine why 16 children developed measles despite receiving two doses. Possible factors include inadequate immune response after vaccination, waning antibody protection, malnutrition and other individual health factors.
Outbreak may take 2-3 months to control
State Minister for Health Dr MA Muhit said there was no room for unrealistic assurances and that even if vaccination efforts were accelerated to 100%, it would take another two to three months to bring the outbreak fully under control.
"ICUs [intensive care units] or ventilators cannot stop this wave of deaths. Prevention and vaccination are the only solutions," he said, attributing the current immunity gap partly to delays and policy failures in the 2024 vaccination campaign.
Four more children died with measles-like symptoms in the 24 hours until 8am today, taking Bangladesh's combined confirmed and suspected measles-related death toll to 922.
