From the United States to Bangladesh the virus is surging; at home, a million children have never had a single vaccine dose.
LAHORE: Pakistan has recorded more than 14,000 laboratory-confirmed measles cases this year, national health data show, placing the country inside a global resurgence that has pushed the United States to the brink of losing its measles-free status and killed more than a thousand children in Bangladesh.
The National Institutes of Health counted 14,249 confirmed cases in 2026 up to October in its latest weekly bulletin, posted on Nov. 11. Confirmed cases are a floor, because many sick children are never tested.
Where Pakistan stands
In the most recent reporting week, clinics logged 282 suspected cases, 224 of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 34 in Sindh and 16 in Balochistan. Public health laboratories confirmed measles in 151 of 487 samples.
Punjab did not report into the clinic surveillance system that week, leaving the country’s largest province out of the suspected-case count, although its laboratories tested 205 samples and confirmed 22.
The toll on children has been heavy. Official data showed 71 deaths in the first four months of the year, 40 of them in Sindh and 12 each in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Media reports citing health ministry sources later put the figure above 100. Punjab’s own figures, submitted to the Lahore High Court in proceedings over measles deaths, showed 1,695 suspected cases in the first four weeks of 2026 alone.
The global picture
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 5,412 cases as of Nov. 12, with 591 people hospitalised and six deaths, the country’s worst outbreak in decades. The Pan American Health Organization is weighing whether the United States has lost the elimination status it has held since 2000.
Bangladesh is suffering its deadliest outbreak in decades, with more than 235,000 suspected cases and 24,219 confirmed as of Nov. 5, and over 1,200 deaths among suspected and confirmed patients. The NIH has called for closer sharing of information across South Asia.
Why the virus keeps winning
Measles is among the most contagious diseases known, and stopping it requires about 95% of children to receive two doses. Pakistan has more than one million “zero-dose” children who have never received any vaccine, and health experts trace part of the gap to routine immunisation missed during the pandemic.
The state provides two free doses, usually at nine and 15 months. A nationwide campaign last November reached 34 million children under five, according to the World Health Organization, yet cases have continued, a sign that campaigns cannot substitute for routine coverage.
Bill Gates said in September that eradicating measles was off the table for now, citing falling global vaccination rates.
What parents can do
Doctors advise parents to check vaccination cards and take any child who has missed a dose to the nearest government health centre, where the measles-rubella vaccine is free. Early signs are high fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed by a rash that spreads from the face. Children with breathing difficulty, persistent fever or drowsiness need hospital care, as pneumonia is the commonest cause of measles deaths.
With winter crowding children indoors and wedding season bringing families together across cities, the weeks ahead are when the virus spreads most easily.
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