The swine flu vaccine – rushed out to combat a pandemic that wasn’t – causes narcolepsy, the sleeping disorder, drug agencies fear. Sweden’s drugs regulator, the Medical Products Agency, is investigating a range of adverse reactions in people – including children aged between 12 and 16 years – who were given the Pandemrix vaccine, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Common reactions have included fevers, headaches and coughing, but the regulators are concerned by reports of narcolepsy, the chronic sleeping disorder, that seems to be affecting people around a month after vaccination. Sweden’s health authority bought 18 million doses of Pandemrix, enough to vaccinate everyone in the country twice. Finland’s drug agency is following up similar reports of narcolepsy in vaccinated people. Around 2.5 million Finns were vaccinated, and regulators are investigating 750 cases of adverse reactions. GSK made lb698m from sales of Pandemrix, which boosted first quarter results for 2010 by 17 per cent. (Source: AFP, August 20, 2010).
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