Epidemiology of autoimmune encephalitis and comparison to infectious causes—Experience from a tertiary center

Abstract Objectives The incidence of autoimmune encephalitis (AIE) has risen in the last decade, yet recent studies are lacking. We compared the epidemiology of autoimmune and infectious encephalitis cases in Tel‐Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (TASMC) between 2010 and 2020. Methods All encephalitis cases, aged 18 and above, admitted to TASMC between the years 2010 and 2020 were reviewed for demographic, clinical, laboratory, and imaging data and categorized based on etiology. Results Two hundred and twenty‐five patients with encephalitis were identified. The most common identifiable cause was viral (42%), followed by autoimmune encephalitis (35%), bacterial (18%), and fungal/parasitic (5%). The incidence of AIE cases out of the yearly admitted cases increased substantially, from 3.8/100 K in 2010 to 18.8/100 K in 2020. The incidence of viral cases also increased while those of bacterial and fungal/parasitic infections remained stable. Patients with AIE were younger compared to infectious patients (p‐value