Dhaka, Oct. 7 -- A nationwide campaign to vaccinate 3.4 million children against measles and rubella is under way in Bangladesh with support from the United States.

The assistance is being provided through UNICEF under the "America First Global Health Strategy", the US Embassy in Dhaka said in a statement on Wednesday.

The drive, which began on Sept 26, aims to vaccinate children aged 6-59 months who are vulnerable to outbreaks of the two diseases.

It comes as Bangladesh battles a severe measles outbreak. Nearly 200,000 people with measles symptoms have been recorded since the health authorities began publishing outbreak data on Mar 15, including 21,910 confirmed cases.

The combined death toll among confirmed measles patients and peop...