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Public health experts have advised parents to avoid unnecessary travel and crowded places with children during Eid holidays amid concerns over a possible rise in measles infections due to increased movement and public gatherings.
They also recommended avoiding travel by crowded public transports such as buses and launches with children during Eid journeys and urged families to use private vehicles while maintaining health precautions whenever possible.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Hossain also urged people to move cautiously with children during Eid to prevent measles transmission.
Speaking to journalists, the minister requested parents not to take children everywhere during Eid, especially those who are vulnerable to measles infection.
“We request you not to take children everywhere during Eid. Particularly, children who are at risk of measles infection should not be taken to relatives’ houses or overcrowded places,” he said.
The minister said healthy children should be kept away from infected children and infected patients should also not be allowed to mix with others. He stressed the need for greater public awareness in this regard.
Public health experts said a person infected with measles can spread the virus even before visible symptoms appear. Therefore, Eid travel, shopping malls, amusement centres and family gatherings could become major sources of transmission.
Experts said vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent measles. They also emphasized isolating infected individuals, avoiding gatherings if fever or rash appears, covering the mouth during coughing or sneezing and seeking medical advice promptly.
Public health expert Dr. Mushtaq Hossain told BSS that many families would travel to their village homes during Eid, creating risks of wider transmission.
He advised parents not to travel with children suffering from malnutrition or illness, saying such travel could increase health risks both for the affected child and other healthy children coming into contact with them.
Another public health expert, Dr. Lelin Chowdhury, said measles patients may initially show only mild fever without severe symptoms, yet they can still spread the infection to others unknowingly.
He warned that Eid travel and large gatherings could accelerate the spread of the disease.
Doctors said measles is a highly contagious viral disease that spreads mainly through coughing, sneezing and breathing.
An infected person can transmit the virus to an average of 12 to 18 others.
They noted that measles patients can spread the virus from four days before to four days after the appearance of rashes.
The virus can also remain active in the air or inside a room for several hours, increasing the risk of infection in crowded places such as public transports, schools, markets, hospitals, shopping malls and family events.
Additional Director General (Administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services, Prof. Dr. Md. Zahid Raihan said large gatherings naturally occur during Eid, increasing crowding in buses, trains, launches and recreational centres. He also advised children to wear masks during Eid congregations.
Associate Professor of the Department of Virology at Bangladesh Medical University, Dr. S M Rashedul Islam, said those who have not received measles vaccines, particularly in rural and urban areas, remain at higher risk. “People who had already received measles vaccines face very low risk of infection,” he added.
