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Encephalitis International - The brain inflammation charity
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Encephalitis International

What is encephalitis?

Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain. It is caused either by an infection invading the brain (infectious encephalitis) or through the immune system attacking the brain in error (post-infectious or autoimmune encephalitis).

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1.5M

People are affected by encephalitis globally each year

78%

of people across the world do not know what encephalitis is

224M

People reached during our 2024 World Encephalitis Day campaign

Your Stories

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HSV Encephalitis Live Experience - Amanda's Story

The first couple of months at home were a period of extreme tiredness and I slept many hours at night and also had a great deal of rest time during the day. One of the difficulties besides memory was my loss of language, even English. I have learned many words again but have not been brave enough to start my foreign language classes. The difficulty speaking was obvious when I was taken down to visit my colleagues at my workplace. I found it very difficult to speak clearly and remember many everyday spoken words.

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HSV Encephalitis Lived Experience - Chris' Story

I was rushed into hospital in May 2021 after losing consciousness and spent 2 days in intensive care. The hospital struggled to identify the problem, misdiagnosing my condition twice. I was eventually diagnosed with HSV encephalitis on day 10 of my admission. Following treatment I was discharged after 5 weeks with limited knowledge of what had happened to me or what to expect and almost no support. It’s been a long and often traumatic 3 years since. However, I am now pleased to say that I have made a good recovery and have minimal physical residual symptoms.

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Meningoencephalitis Lived Experience - Amy's Story

The following weeks were a blur for me and were incredibly stressful for my family and my husband as doctors struggled to put a label on what was happening to me. Various diagnoses were ruled out and meningoencephalitis was eventually established. Eventually a specialist MRI interpretation diagnosed listeriosis and it was suggested that having a low immune system postpartum may have contributed to the severity of my illness. During this time I was in and out of consciousness, I suffered tremors, headaches, hallucinations and incredibly vivid dreams.

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One person is diagnosed with encephalitis every minute.

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The above number reflects how many people have been diagnosed so far this year.
Support us so they don’t have to face that diagnosis alone.

Donate

Make a donation today

One person is diagnosed with encephalitis every minute, and life for them and their family will never be the same again. Make a donation today and help us build a world without death and disability from encephalitis.

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Upcoming Events

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Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis Webinar - patient event (online)

Please note that this is an online event aimed at patients and their caregivers/families. Invited Speaker: Associate Professor Stacey Clardy Department of Neurology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, US. The webinar will consist of a 30 minute presentation by Dr Stacey Clardy following by a 20 minute Q&A. There will be an opportunity […]

19 March 2025
Online
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My Brain & Medicine 2025

My Brain & Medicine 2025 – Registration is now open (virtual event) Join us online for a patient event where we will be joined by a host of professional and lived experience speakers. The presentations are aimed at patients, carers and family members with an interest with encephalitis. Starting on Monday, April 28, 2025 at 1:00PM […]

28 April 2025
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Climate change, infectious diseases and encephalitis webinar - Health professional event (online)

Registration is now OPEN! If you are a health professional please join us on the 29 April 2025, at 2pm (BST) to find out more about  the impact of climate change on infectious diseases and encephalitis. If you are not able to join ‘live’, please register and a link to the recordings will be sent […]

29 April 2025
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Page Created: 3 October 2023
Last Modified: 11 March 2025

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Call our helpline on:
+44 (0) 1653 699 599
Or email:
support@encephalitis.info