Swine flu vaccine linked to narcolepsy

THE number of children to develop the debilitating sleep disorder, narcolepsy, on foot of being immunised against swine flu officially stands at 16, and is continuing to rise.

Unofficially, the figure is at least 22, according to SOUND (Sufferers of Unique Narcolepsy Disorder), a support group for parents of children who developed narcolepsy after receiving Pandemrix, a vaccine not now recommended for use in persons under 20.

Mairéad Lawless, a member of SOUND whose six-year-old son Alex developed the disorder after the vaccination, said many of the children also suffer from cataplexy, a sudden loss of muscle tone ranging from slackness of facial muscles to total collapse.