Five more children passed away with measles and measles-like symptoms in the 24 hours leading up to 8 am on Thursday, pushing the country’s combined tally of confirmed and suspected measles-related fatalities to 1,081 this year.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) categorized all five latest fatalities as suspected measles deaths.

With these additions, the total number of suspected measles deaths has reached 980 while confirmed deaths from measles remained unchanged at 101, according to official data.

A total of 1,183 new suspected measles cases were reported during the 24-hour period, lifting the cumulative number of suspected infections nationwide to 184,632.

Meanwhile, 100 new confirmed measles cases were registered, bringing the overall count of laboratory-confirmed infections to 20,951.

Since March 15 this year, a total of 163,153 patients showing suspected measles symptoms have been admitted to hospitals across the country, with 156,744 of them making a full recovery, DGHS figures revealed.