A 11-year-old boy is brought to the emergency department because of a 3-day history of fever, cough, and a runny nose. During this period, he has also had pink, itchy eyes. The patient emigrated from Syria 2 weeks ago. His parents died 6 months ago. He has not yet received any routine childhood vaccinations. He lives at a foster home with ten other refugees; two have similar symptoms. He appears anxious and is sweating. During examination, He develops a myoclonus in the lowe legs. After the appropriate workup, a brain biopsy is obtained and an RNA virus containing hemagglutinin is cultured from the tissue sample. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?

Question

A 11-year-old boy is brought to the emergency department because of a 3-day history of fever, cough, and a runny nose. During this period, he has also had pink, itchy eyes. The patient emigrated from Syria 2 weeks ago. His parents died 6 months ago. He has not yet received any routine childhood vaccinations. He lives at a foster home with ten other refugees; two have similar symptoms. He appears anxious and is sweating. During examination, He develops a myoclonus in the lowe legs. After the appropriate workup, a brain biopsy is obtained and an RNA virus containing hemagglutinin is cultured from the tissue sample.  Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a rare complication of measles infection that occurs several years after apparent recovery from initial infection.  Oligoclonal bands of measles virus antibodies are found in the cerebrospinal fluid of these patients.

A 11-Year-Old Boy Is Brought to the Emergency Department Because