{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T10:04:18Z","timestamp":1785146658562,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785110400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pediatr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      (\n                      <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      ), an obligate intracellular bacterium, has been reported to cause human encephalitis. Clinical reports of\n                      <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      encephalitis remain rare, particularly in children. Herein, we present a pediatric case and review the relevant literature.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Case report<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A previously healthy 9-year-old boy initially presented with fever and headache. Following admission, he developed hyperpyrexia and somnolence. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging revealed a left temporal lobe lesion with ipsilateral temporoparietal meningeal enhancement, and electroencephalography showed background slowing. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing of cerebrospinal fluid detected a high abundance of\n                      <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      sequences, whereas autoantibody testing for central nervous system autoimmune diseases was negative. Based on these findings, a diagnosis of\n                      <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      encephalitis was established. The child fully recovered and was discharged after receiving doxycycline-based antimicrobial therapy combined with glucocorticoids, intravenous immunoglobulin, and intracranial pressure management.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This rare case highlights that\n                      <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      infection should be included in the differential diagnosis of encephalitis. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing is recommended for early etiological diagnosis to facilitate timely and effective clinical intervention.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2026.1867339","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T09:13:46Z","timestamp":1785143626000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Case Report: Pediatric Rickettsia felis encephalitis\u2014a rare case and literature review"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Qianqian","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Neurology, Children\u2019s Hospital, Tianjin University\/Tianjin Children\u2019s Hospital","place":["Tianjin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meifang","family":"Lei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of 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