Swine flu infections trigger narcolepsy, not vaccine, says study

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Swine flu infections trigger narcolepsy, not vaccine, says study

Swine flu infections could trigger a rare sleeping disorder, according to

research that contradicts previous fears that a vaccine to protect against the

virus was to blame.

By Beckford, Health Correspondent, 7:00AM BST 22 Aug 2011

A study claims that rates of narcolepsy, a condition that causes sufferers to

fall asleep without warning, peak five to seven months after the highest levels

of H1N1 infections and colds.

The finding goes against recent concerns that a jab widely used in epidemics,

Pandemrix, was to blame for children in Finland developing the sleeping

disorder.

Scientists at Stanford medicine school in California say their study suggests

that restrictions on the vaccine, intended to protect people from narcolepsy,

could actually lead to higher rates of infection.

Emmanuel Mignot, an expert on narcolepsy, writes in a new paper: " Together with

recent findings, these results strongly suggest that winter airway infections

such as influenza A (including H1N1), and/or Streptococcus pyogenes are triggers

for narcolepsy.

" The new finding of an association with infection, and not vaccination, is

important as it suggests that limiting vaccination because of a fear of

narcolepsy could actually increase overall risk. "

After the global outbreak of swine flu – the H1N1 strain of the virus – in 2009,

some 30million people across Europe were given the vaccine Pandemrix including

6m in Britain.

But its safety was questioned by health officials in Finland, and in total 335

cases of narcolepsy have now been reported in people vaccinated with Pandemrix.

In July the European Medicine Agency said that as a precautionary measure, the

vaccine should only be given to the under-20s if they are at risk of contracting

swine flu and alternative jabs are not available.

Its analysis found that for every 100,000 adolescents who are given the

injection, up to seven are likely to develop narcolepsy.

However Britain's drug watchdog said the recommendations were not binding and

that Pandemrix would not be restricted in this country.

Now further doubt has been cast on the link between the vaccine and narcolepsy,

a condition suffered by 3m people worldwide that is characterised by daytime

drowsiness and a sudden loss of muscle strength.

The Stanford paper, published in the ls of Neurology, highlights previous

studies that have suggested that some people have genetic predispositions to the

disease, and develop it after some external factor such as an infection affects

their immune systems.

They looked at 906 patients in Beijing who had been diagnosed with the sleeping

disorder between 1998 and earlier this year, and found that the onset was

seasonal.

It was most common in April and least common in November, and seemed to come

about between five and seven months after the seasonal peak in cold, flu or H1N1

infections.

There was a threefold rise in narcolepsy after the 2009 swine flu pandemic, but

only 5.6 per cent of the patients studied said they had been vaccinated.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/8712366/Swine-flu-infections-trigger\

-narcolepsy-not-vaccine-says-study.html