Background: The literature includes case reports of encephalitis with rubella etiology. However, no case of adult or childhood rubella encephalitis is present in Turkey. This paper presents an adult case of rubella encephalitis and reviews the literature.
Case Report: An 18-year-old patient presented with severe encephalitis. Clinical features included, fever
appearing 3 days after a rash covering the face and the trunk, loss of consciousness and myoclonic
contractions. The diagnosis of rubella was confirmed by demonstration of IgM antibodies by serology in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. The patient was treated symptomatically. He was discharged on the 10^th day of admission as he recovered completely. All physical examination and laboratory parameters were normal on the control visit a month later.
Conclusions: This is the first case of rubella encephalitis reported in Turkey. Rubella should be considered in etiology of encephalitis in countries, especially like Turkey, where there is not a routine rubella vaccination program.

Keywords: Rubella, Encephalitis, Turkey