Measles outbreak infects 17 out of 36 children at Shishu Nibash
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
At least 17 children have been infected with measles at the government-run Shishu Nibash in Dhaka’s Shyamoli area, out of a total of 36 children living there. Two children have already died, raising serious concerns about health management and child safety at the facility.
A 9-month-old child, Khushbu, is currently on a ventilator in the intensive care unit of the Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute in the capital. Nearby, one-year-and-four-month-old Suha is also under treatment in a frail condition. Another child, Nuha, remains unstable. Doctors say all the children are severely malnourished, and at least two are in critical condition.
The incident has raised serious questions about the healthcare and safety of orphaned and abandoned children under government care. The outbreak occurred at a Shishu Nibash under the Department of Social Services, where children aged zero to seven—many of them abandoned or rescued from trafficking—are housed.
According to officials, two children were recently rescued by police in late April and brought to the facility. Standard procedures require immediate health screening and isolation upon admission, but authorities reportedly failed to do so. As a result, the infection spread rapidly among the children.
The facility’s guidelines mandate weekly health check-ups and routine vaccination against six major diseases under medical supervision. However, these protocols were not properly followed.
Public health experts, including former chief scientific officer of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Mushtaq Hossain, have described the situation as clear negligence and a violation of established protocols. He said such lapses in government-run institutions amount to serious misconduct.
