No Eid for children with measles

Just yards from Mohakhali’s bustling bus terminal, where thousands streamed out of Dhaka to celebrate Eid in their village homes yesterday, a starkly different scene unfolded inside the DNCC Dedicated Covid Hospital -- now repurposed as a measles treatment facility.

While the ground floor appeared relatively quiet, the first floor remained unchanged from the past few weeks -- crowded, tense, and heavy with the cries of sick children.

Infants and toddlers infected with measles whimpered in pain as anxious parents tried desperately to soothe them. Two nurses and a lone doctor moved swiftly from bed to bed, straining to provide care amid the relentless demand.

While the rest of the country celebrated Eid with their families and loved ones, inside these wards parents and healthcare workers spent the day locked in a struggle to save young lives.

“How can parents celebrate Eid when their child is sick?” asked Lipi Akhter, mother of seven‑month‑old Rayan, her voice breaking amid the ward’s chaos.

The country recorded five more deaths from measles-related complications in the 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday, taking the total death toll to 565.

Of them, 88 were confirmed measles deaths, while 477 people died with measles-like symptoms, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

A total of 54,182 patients have been admitted to hospitals with measles or measles-like symptoms since March 15, including 719 in the last 24 hours.

Of them, 50,926 have left hospitals, including 1,023 in the last 24 hours, meaning more than 3,200 patients -- mostly children -- were still undergoing treatment at hospitals yesterday.

Seven-month-old Rayan, from Shibchar upazila of Madaripur, is one of them. He was admitted to the DNCC hospital on Saturday with measles and several other complications.

However, he had been suffering from various ailments for around a month and spent over 20 days at three different hospitals before being brought to the DNCC hospital, Lipi Akhter said.

Lipi, along with her sister, took him to the hospitals, as Rayan’s father is an expatriate living in Bahrain.

“Rayan’s is doing better now, and the doctors recommended discharging him today [Thursday]. Worried he might get sick again when we left, we stayed on for an extra day. We will go home tomorrow [Friday],” she said.

“If my child fully recovers, that will bring me the real joy of Eid,” she added.

Eighteen-month-old Sara Moni was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday with measles and several other complications. Earlier, she had been taken to Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, where doctors advised her family to continue treatment at home.

However, as her condition deteriorated, she was taken to the DNCC hospital on Tuesday, her mother Mansura Begum said.

“We had planned to go to our village home in Nazirpur of Pirojpur for Eid, but that was not possible because of my younger daughter’s illness,” she said.

“My elder daughter, who is eight years old, cried in the morning because we could not go home.”

Rayan and Sara Moni are among the 67 measles patients -- all children -- receiving treatment on the first floor of the hospital.

More than 300 patients were undergoing treatment at the hospital, with 29 new patients admitted between yesterday morning and 5:30pm, according to hospital staff.

With the country passing through an unprecedented measles outbreak in recent memory, the hospital has treated over 6,000 measles patients so far and recorded 38 deaths from measles and measles-like symptoms, an official of the hospital said.

Health officials and experts said the infection rate is declining as more than 1.84 crore children have already been brought under vaccination coverage. However, they warned that the number of deaths may continue for several more days as many children have already been hospitalised.