World Encephalitis Day 2025 raises awareness of the disease and the MHH is lit up in red again.
The MHH main building is lit up in red for World Encephalitis Day. Copyright: Johannes Stichternath / MHH
22 February 2025 is World Encephalitis Day: During the night of 21 to 22 February, many buildings around the world will therefore be lit up in red under the motto "shine a light on encephalitis" to raise public awareness of the issue of encephalitis. "The MHH is taking part in this campaign by the Encephalitis Society and will once again light up the main building of the MHH in red," says Professor Dr. Kurt-Wolfram Sühs, senior physician at the Department of Neurology at the Hannover Medical School (MHH). "Although the disease is rare, it can be life-threatening and can also lead to permanent brain damage." Worldwide, around 1.5 million people develop the disease each year. It can be triggered by viruses or bacteria, and more rarely the disease is triggered by an autoimmune response, i.e. an excessive reaction of the immune system. Encephalitis can lead to disorders of consciousness and perception, epileptic seizures, speech, visual or motor disorders.
MHH offers a wide range of diagnostic and treatment options
"Due to the large catchment area, we see significantly more cases at the MHH than the statistically expected ten to 20 patients per year for Hannover," explains Professor Sühs. Because of the symptoms, such as behavioural changes or memory disorders, autoimmune encephalitis is often not easy to recognise, especially in the early stages. "At the MHH Center for Rare Diseases, we therefore offer a highly specialised range of diagnostics and treatments at our individual centre for 'Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis', from the CSF laboratory to intensive care treatment and neuroimmunological outpatient consultations," emphasises Professor Sühs, who heads the individual centre together with Professor Dr. Corinna Trebst.
MHH experts involved in world's first clinical study
In order to better understand and treat the disease, MHH experts are involved in national and international research collaborations such as the GENERATE network (www.generate-net.de) and are involved in clinical studies that are testing additional treatment options for severe autoimmune encephalitis. "Depending on the triggering antibody, autoimmune encephalitis is often well treatable," says the MHH neurologist. It is important to find the triggering antibody. At the end of last year, MHH researchers succeeded in discovering and treating a previously unknown autoantibody (information on the research of the MHH Clinic for Neurology with Clinical Neurophysiology can be found here). In the case of viral and bacterial pathogens, there is close cooperation with TWINCORE, the Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, and the Institute for Transfusion Medicine. "In these cases, too, complications can be avoided and mortality can be significantly reduced by starting treatment early."
Note: The MHH main building is illuminated with energy-efficient LED lights!
Text: Simone Corpus