MANILA - A total of 203 patients who contracted measles in 2019 have died as of February 22 this year, the Department of Health said Friday.

The number of measles cases between January and February 2019 was at 13,470, Health spokesperson Undersecretary Eric Domingo told radio DZMM. There were only 4,300 cases in the first week of February.

Most of the cases were recorded in the National Capital Region, Cagayan and MIMAROPA, Domingo said.

The government declared a measles outbreak early February after hundreds of children contracted the airborne disease in Metro Manila and parts of Central Luzon and Central Visayas.

• Measles outbreak declared in 3 more regions

The measles outbreak may wane in April as the DOH moves to vaccinate some 12 million Filipinos against the disease, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said.

• Measles outbreak may dwindle in April - health chief

The Department of Education is also considering a "no vaccination, no enrollment policy" to push more parents to avail of anti-measles shots.

• DepEd mulls ‘no vaccination, no enrollment’ policy

Some 32 percent of 1,500 Filipinos had trust in vaccines, a poll conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2018 showed.

A vaccine scare triggered by an allegedly deadly dengue vaccine may have triggered further distrust in the government's immunization program, Duque said in an earlier interview.