acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

noun

: a neurological condition that is marked by inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, is of sudden onset with variable symptoms (such as fever, headache, nausea, lethargy, weakness and seizures), and is thought to be the result of an immune response following infectious illness (as with the measles) or vaccination (as with the rabies vaccine)

Note: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis typically affects children and resembles multiple sclerosis in symptoms and in the presence of myelin sheath damage. Complete recovery is possible but may take weeks or months.

—abbreviation ADEM