After the storm

Discussion of the encephalitis problem has not lost its vigor, even after the passing of the great wave of epidemic encephalitis. The occurrence of encephalitic syndromes has repeatedly necessitated considering the relationships between the individual diseases. Such discussions were necessarily based largely upon comparative disease research, as the experimental–biological elucidation of epidemic encephalitis remains in the dark. Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, course, and anatomic substrate have nonetheless revealed quite specific characteristics that have enabled its differentiation from other frequently occurring encephalitic syndromes Gerhard Döring, 1941