The threat of more, expanded measles outbreaks looms with start of school

A small percentage of people who get the measles will die or suffer life-altering complications… . Perhaps the most insidious outcome is a condition called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), in which a latent measles infection mutates inside the brain, causing progressive cell death and atrophy until the area of the brainstem that controls breathing is destroyed. This rare disease shows up roughly a decade later in people who seem to have fully recovered from a measles illness, meaning it will be years before any SSPE cases stemming from recent outbreaks emerge.