Measles outbreak: Death toll reaches 844 as four die in 24 hours

Four children died with measles-like symptoms in the 24 hours until 8:00am on Sunday, bringing the country’s combined tally of confirmed and suspected measles-related deaths to 844 this year.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), all the latest fatalities were suspected measles deaths.

With the latest update, the number of suspected measles deaths has risen to 748, while the number of laboratory-confirmed measles deaths remained 96.

A total of 1,022 new suspected measles cases were reported during the 24-hour period, bringing the cumulative number of suspected cases nationwide to 130,083.

Meanwhile, 115 new confirmed measles cases were recorded, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed infections to 16,295.

Since March 15 this year, a total of 112,620 patients with suspected measles have been hospitalized across the country, of whom 108,283 have recovered, according to DGHS data.