In camps for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Unicef has detected a total of 4,011 suspected cases of diphtheria.

‘Rohingyas in refugee camps at Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar live in conditions ripe for the propagation of infectious diseases such as cholera, measles, rubella and diphtheria.’

"The latest number of suspected cases is 4,011. However these are not all confirmed diphtheria cases. Out of the 4,011 cases, so far 61 cases have been confirmed," he said. 




Unicef said in a statement that they are beginning the second phase of the vaccination program on January 25 for 475,000 minors in refugee camps for Rohingyas, who arrived in Bangladesh to escape violence against them in Myanmar.
The vaccination has to be carried out in three phases to be effective, it said.
During the first phase, which began on December 12 and concluded on December 31, nearly 150,000 children aged six weeks to seven years, and 166,000 children between seven and 17 were vaccinated against diphtheria and other diseases.
The number of suspected cases of the highly infectious respiratory disease, which can even be contracted from coughing or a sneeze, increased by nearly 800 in less than 10 days, after the WHO recorded 3,155 cases on January 5.
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The current exodus was triggered when Myanmar security forces launched an operation in retaliation for an attack by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on several security posts in Rakhine State on August 25.
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Source-IANS