Measles death toll hits 1,222 as 8 more die in 24hrs

Eight more children died with measles-like symptoms in 24 hours until 8:00am on Saturday, bringing the country’s combined tally of confirmed and suspected measles-related deaths to 1,222 this year.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has classified all eight latest fatalities as suspected measles deaths.

With these, the total number of suspected measles deaths has reached 1,118 while confirmed deaths from measles have remained the same at 104.

A total of 1,014 new suspected measles cases were reported during the 24-hour period, bringing the cumulative number of suspected cases nationwide to 219,884.

Meanwhile, 51 new confirmed measles cases were recorded, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed infections to 23,324.

Since March 15 this year, a total of 195,514 patients with suspected measles have been hospitalised across the country, of whom 187,605 have recovered, according to DGHS data.