Suspected measles cases kill nearly 1,000 as Bangladesh struggles to contain outbreak

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Eight-month-old Rojatun Jannat Ramisa is struggling to breathe in a hospital in Bangladesh’s capital as her parents sit helplessly beside her. She is one of thousands of children sickened by a measles outbreak that is sweeping across the South Asian country and has killed hundreds of children following setbacks to the national vaccine program.

Ramisa’s mother, Ranu Akhter, traveled hundreds of miles after doctors in eastern Bangladesh referred her to a specialized child hospital in Dhaka to seek treatment for the life-threatening condition.

“Fourteen days ago, when we were at the district hospital, there were other children being treated alongside my daughter. I saw that those children also had red rashes on their bodies, sores in their mouths and fevers,” Akhter told The Associated Press at Dhaka Shishu Hospital.

“It made me realize how widespread the measles outbreak is,” she said.

Every day, the death toll is rising.

Thousands of measles cases confirmed in the U.S.

Bangladesh has been racing to halt the outbreak’s spread since March, when more than 100 children died in less than a month. By Tuesday, the death toll from suspected measles cases reached 999 since the start of the year, according to…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business