Manila, April 23 -- The country has logged 1,817 cases of measles from Jan. 1 to April 13, which is five times higher compared to those reported in the same period last year, a health official said Tuesday.

Data from the Department of Health (DOH) Epidemiology Bureau showed that 374 cases of measles-rubella were logged from Jan. 1 to April 15 last year.

"Hindi siya dahil sa init, dahil siya sa (It is not due to hot weather, it is caused by) measles virus and it can happen any time of the year," DOH Spokesperson Albert Domingo said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview over PTV4.

"Cases increase when there is increase in number of gatherings among children especially during summer," he explained.

Earlier, the World Health Organization...