Doctors Discover Serious Threat to Children with Measles
Children suffering from measles in Bangladesh are facing a dangerous new threat. Doctors at the Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute found another virus making measles much worse. This second virus is called adenovirus.
Adenovirus alone usually causes mild sickness. Patients often have a fever, runny nose, and cough. Most people recover easily from it. But doctors say problems become much more severe when children get both measles and adenovirus. Their health declines very quickly.
Bangladesh Shishu Hospital tested 35 children with measles. They found 16 of these children also had adenovirus. The hospital treats many very sick children from all over Bangladesh. Hospital Director Professor Mirza Md Ziaul Islam said some measles patients were not getting better. Even medicine was not helping them. This led doctors to look for other infections.
They used special tests to find other viruses in these children. The tests showed many critically ill children had both measles and adenovirus. Testing for these viruses is costly. Not all government hospitals can do it.
Shishu Hospital informed the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) about their findings. They also shared this information at a DGHS meeting on June 23. However, the DGHS and the Ministry of Health have not yet taken any action.
Professor Halimur Rashid is the DGHS Director of Disease Control. He said he had not heard about measles and adenovirus co-infection. He also stated Shishu Hospital did not inform them. He did not recall the meeting either.
Meanwhile, the US government and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed interest. CDC experts have already visited Shishu Hospital. The CDC learned about this issue through an infectious disease network. They then contacted their Dhaka office.
Some very young infants with both viruses develop “white lung.” This means their lungs cannot absorb oxygen well.
Prominent virologist Professor Nazrul Islam called the DGHS’s unawareness “deeply unfortunate.” He said it is hard to accept that they did not act on such an important discovery. The CDC may send a team from Atlanta to Dhaka soon. They will see what help is needed.
