Acute encephalitis is a relatively uncommon but potentially harmful central nervous system
inflammation usually caused by an infection. The highest frequency is seen in younger
children with an incidence of 10 cases per 100 000 children-years.1⇓–3 Most cases are thought
to be caused by viruses, but the spectrum of causal agents is extremely variable according
to the geographical region, with large differences between continents.1 The most commonly
detected viruses in the western word are tick-borne encephalitis virus, varicella zoster virus,
enterovirus, and respiratory virus.1⇓⇓⇓–5 However, exhaustive epidemiologic data dealing with
viral encephalitis in North African countries are lacking. In 2011, Tunisian health authorities
reported an unusual increase of eruptive fever, particularly induced by the rubella virus.6
Thus, we recorded in our intensive care unit an increasing number of patients admitted for
severe rubella encephalitis. Children were particularly affected by this serious complication
of rubella infection and represented almost 75% of cases involving intensive care unit
admission. Available data describing clinical and biological features of rubella encephalitis
are scarce. Moreover, the prognostic impact of this complication is not well established even
though rubella infection is classically known as a mild disease.7
The aim of our study is to describe clinical features and biological and radiologic findings and
to report its prognostic impact in terms of mortality and late neurologic sequelae.