ObjectiveTo systematically review the correlation between adenoviral infection and encephalitis in children. MethodsStudies on the correlation between adenoviral infection and encephalitis among children were retrieved in the databases of CHKD, CNKI, WanFang Data, CMCC, PubMed, Ovid, EBSCO, and Science New during 1978-2013. According to our inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature was screened. After data extraction, meta-analysis was conducted using Comprehensive Meta Analysis 2.0. ResultsA total of 18 studies were enrolled. The results of meta-analysis indicated that:the prevalence of infection of human adenovirus in children with encephalitis was p1=10.8% (95%CI 6.5% to 15.2%, P < 0.000 01). The incidence of encephalitis in children with adenoviral infection was p2=31.4% (95%CI 14.1% to 48.6%, P < 0.000 01). The results of two studies showed that, the correlation coefficients between adenoviral infection and encephalitis were OR1=2.22 (95%CI 0.32 to 14.79, P > 0.05), and OR2=1.12 (95%CI 0.14 to 9.10, P > 0.05), respectively, both with no significant difference. In addition, the subgenus B adenoviruses, including type 3 and type 7 were more associated with encephalitis, followed by type 1 and type 2 in subgenus C and type 8 in subgenus D. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that no correlation exists between adenoviral infection and encephalitis in children. However, the above conclusion needs to be verified by conducting more rationally-designed studies so as to clarify the correlation.