Fukuoka, Jan. 28 -- : Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, a rare but devastating neurological condition that can develop years after a measles infection, has been linked to the measles virus by researchers in Japan.
The scientists discovered that viruses that remain in the body can evolve mutations in a crucial protein that regulates how they infect cells, despite the fact that the normal form of the measles virus is unable to infect the nervous system. Its normal form can interact with the altered proteins, giving it the ability to infect the brain. The journal Science Advances published a report on their discoveries.
If you are of a certain age, you may have gotten measles as a child. Many born after the 1970s have never gotte...