After several weeks of tests, doctors realised she had SSPE (subacute sclerosing panencephalitis) – a rare complication of measles that usually develops six to eight years after infection. The devastating condition kills 95 per cent of people who get it. Two doses of the measles vaccine offers 99 per cent protection against the disease. Dr Williams, who now works at the Alfred Hospital, said the woman had migrated from the Philippines two years before she fell ill and had an unclear vaccination history. Her family believed she had been vaccinated against measles but there was no proof she had received the two doses that offer 99 per cent protection against the disease. The woman is now being treated with a drug that appears to have stabilised her symptoms, but Dr Williams said she was unable to do anything for herself. It's unclear how much she understands when people talk to her. An image of the typical measles rash on a person's stomach. Credit:US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

"Her family feel she can understand some of the things they are saying. However, she is unable to communicate verbally back to them," Dr Williams said. "She was variably able to respond to set commands and yes-no questions in hospital ... but complex tasks, she was not able to carry out." The case, believed to be only the second one documented in Australia, has been detailed in the Medical Journal of Australia to highlight the terrible damage measles can do. In 2014, the World Health Organisation said Australia had eliminated local strains of measles through high levels of vaccination, but there have still been hundreds of cases in recent years, causing concern about immunisation rates. The outbreaks have most likely been started by overseas travellers or migrants who have resided in countries where the disease is more prevalent. If an infectious person meets a community with vaccination rates below about 96 per cent, the highly contagious viral disease can take off.