David Yao
Project: Investigating the health outcomes and risk factors of children with severe measles from the 2025 Alberta outbreak
“The growing impact of vaccine hesitancy and fatigue has been undeniable and has led to the resurgence of preventable infectious diseases. Understanding the threat that these sentiments pose, especially to vulnerable pediatric populations, has motivated me to investigate these issues better.”
Summary: Measles is highly contagious and can cause complications in children, such as pneumonia, seizures and blindness. Currently, there is an ongoing global outbreak as kids are missing vaccine doses, vaccine hesitancy is rising, and many are unaware of how dangerous measles can be. This has led to the resurgence of the disease in many regions of the world where it was previously rare and travel-related.
In Canada, there were more than 5,000 new cases in 2025 compared to just 12 in 2023. More than 70 per cent of cases were in children younger than 18 years old, who also made up the majority of patients hospitalized with measles.
Despite measles's serious impact on child health, information on the current Canadian outbreak is limited. In this study, we will analyze data on approximately 1,500 confirmed pediatric cases in Alberta in 2025 and describe the demographic features (e.g., age, gender, health zone), clinical symptoms and complications reported among hospitalized cases. We will use statistical methods to identify patterns that may help identify who is at risk of more severe outcomes. Ultimately, we aim to complete the first Canadian population-based study of the 2025 measles outbreak to better inform pediatric care and health-care planning.
David Yao was supervised by Dr. Karina Top in the Department of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. His WCHRI summer studentship was funded by the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation. He is enrolled in the University of Alberta’s doctor of medicine program.
Read more about WCHRI’s training awards for students at all levels and generous grants for researchers. See the rest of the 2026 summer studentship recipients here.
