**7. Conclusion**

Encephalitis was considered a rare syndrome, but the incidence of encephalitis is likely to be elevated than previously estimated. This underrated approach towards understanding encephalitis prevails because it is challenging to diagnose, manage and study. Encephalitis is a condition with multiple etiologies and pathogeneses, ranging from direct infectious to immune-mediated; however, each of these specific mechanisms is diverse and often incompletely understood. Accurate diagnosis of encephalitis cases is made complicated because of the difficulties involved in distinguishing between encephalitic and non-encephalitis mimics, autoimmune vs. infectious encephalitis, and the limitation of standard clinical case/laboratory definitions. Ancillary testing, and clinical correlations, along with a clinical followup, are important to establish more specific diagnoses. Determining the etiology is the key first step to improving patient outcomes, and it needs advanced neuropathologic and clinical algorithms. Furthermore, the most recent antibody-associated forms of encephalitis also pose a challenge due to their significantly varying clinical manifestations. Understanding the antigenic specificity of intrathecal IgGs found in the CSF may help to identify clues to the cause of infection or inflammation in several cases of encephalitis.

Also, it is critical to study host-immune responses and other host factors to design novel therapeutic interventions, given the paradoxical role of the immune system in encephalitis. The increased urbanization, travel, and climate change are some of the factors, which contribute to the evolution and spread of new pathogens. Infectious diseases are emerging profoundly. Neuroinfectious diseases might occur as occurrences in small, localized regions or may rapidly spread over large geographical areas as pandemics, just like SARS-CoV2. Understanding emerging viruses need better experimental animal models, which will help to comprehend the cause-effect relationship between the virus and its associated neuropathogenesis. Strong consideration should be given to trials of combination therapy that include treatment strategies with both anti-inflammatory and anti-pathogen drugs.
