TUHIN SHUBHRA ADHIKARY

Almost half of the 60 children who died from confirmed measles were below nine months of age, government data showed, meaning they were not yet eligible for routine vaccination.

The government administers the first dose of the measles-rubella vaccine to children at nine months and the second at 15 months.

A total of 29 children died before reaching nine months of age, with 15 of them being six months or younger. The remaining children died at nine months of age or older, according to data collected by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of 60 confirmed measles deaths from 21 districts.

The youngest child was three months old, and the oldest was nine years old.

Earlier, before the launch of an emergency vaccination drive last month, the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group had recommended lowering the age for receiving the measles vaccine to six months, as one-third of the children recently infected with measles are under nine months.

Children aged between six months and under five years are now being vaccinated under the special immunisation drive to control the outbreak. However, the timing for the routine vaccination remained the same.

Asked about the possible reasons behind the high number of deaths among children under nine months, Fazle Rabbi Chowdhury, associate

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