Swine flu vaccine linked to chronic sleep disorder

FEARS that the swine flu vaccine Pandemrix may be linked to a chronic sleep disorder have been fuelled by data that has emerged just weeks before the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control concludes a review on its safety.

The study, by Sweden’s Medical Products Agency, revealed an almost seven-fold higher incidence in vaccinated children and adolescents of narcolepsy (sudden and uncontrolled episodes of deep sleep) with cataplexy (symptom of narcolepsy that can cause sudden paralysis of the muscles, often at a time of strong emotion such as anger or laughter), compared to those who were not vaccinated.

The Irish Medicines Board has received 13 reports with clinical information which confirms a diagnosis of narcolepsy in individuals who were administered Pandemrix.