D elirious with lingering fever after contracting measles a fortnight ago, one-year-old Yusuf could soon die from a disease he should be protected against.

Propped up by his mother Nafisa on a temporary intensive care bed so she can keep the nebuliser over his mouth, the tiny boy is one of thousands of Bangladeshi children struck down by the worst global measles outbreak in years.

For now, an IV drip and oxygen sustain his fragile, listless frame. But Yusuf – whose eyes have been bandaged over to help him sleep – has a bleak prognosis.

The measles ward at the DNCC repurposed Covid-19 Hospital in Dhaka

Credit : Simon Townsley/The Telegraph

It is, sadly, a common one in a country currently overwhelmed by measles.

An immunisation gap caused mainly by the overthrow of Bangladesh’s authoritarian government in 2024 provided the catalyst for an unprecedented surge in cases which has so far claimed at least 424 lives.

A tiny measles patient

Credit : Simon Townsley/The Telegraph

More than 55,000 infections…