subacute sclerosing panencephalitis

[suhb-uh-kyoot skli-roh-sing pan-en-sef-uh-lahy-tis, pan-]

noun

Pathology.

1. a rare infection of the central nervous system caused by the measles virus, occurring in children and adolescents several years after a measles attack and characterized by progressive personality changes, seizures, and muscular incoordination. SSPE

Word History and Origins

Origin of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis¹

First recorded in 1965–70; scleros(is) + -ing ²; pan- + encephalitis

Example Sentences

There can also be long-term complications from measles, such as SSPE, which stands for subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

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Other complications include brain inflammation and, in rarer cases, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis — a deadly neurological disorder.

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And a complication known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, may emerge from dormancy years later.

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Babies younger than that can be infected with measles and later develop this complication, which is called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE.

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There were at least 11 cases of this deadly complication, known as SSPE, or subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, after the 1988-91 measles epidemic in the United States, which infected more than 55,000.

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