HSE probes suggested link between sleep disorder and swine-flu vaccine Pandemrix

The HSE has said it is investigating a suggested link between the sleep disorder narcolepsy in at least 16 children in Ireland and the Pandemrix swine flue vaccine that was administered two years ago.

Pandemrix was one of two swine flu vaccinations offered to the public in the winter of 2009 into 2010. The other was Celvapan.

Medical studies in Finland and Sweden have now found a 16-fold increase in the number of children and adolescents diagnosed with the sleep disorder after receiving Pandemrix.

A new group for parents of children who have developed narcolepsy will be launched tomorrow.

Head of Health Protection for the HSE Dr Kevin Kelleher dismissed claims that Pandemrix was cheaper than the alternative vaccine.

"The two vaccines' costs were within a few cents of each other. There was no cost issue…It was about the ability for us to get vaccine and to use that vaccine," he said.

One of the most common symptoms of narcolepsy is periods of extreme drowsiness every three to four hours during the day.