Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a measles complication, in an internationally adopted child

A healthy 13-year-old boy who had spent the first 4.5 years of his life in an orphanage in Thailand before adoption by an American couple became ill w ith subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and died several months later. The boy had most likely contracted wild-type measles in Thailand. Measles compl ications are a risk in international adoptions.