Inputs of robust observational studies on encephalitis the game will never be over

Infectious encephalitis can be a devastating disease, with high mortality rates, and severe sequelae in a substantial proportion of survivors, especially when not appropriately managed during the early stages. Appropriate management mostly relies on early recognition of possible cases followed by prompt initiation of an empirical antimicrobial treatment targeting most potential causes of infectious encephalitis. Over the last decades, several large-scale prospective studies on infectious encephalitis, in different settings, have contributed to improve our appraisal of the epidemiology of infectious encephalitis, their clinical presentation, and the main pathogens to be targeted, with significant variation over time, and from one country to another, even within the same continent