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.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. The most commonly detected viruses in the western word are tick-borne encephalitis virus, varicella zoster virus, enterovirus, and respiratory virus.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.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.