There s another vaccine scare in the news. But is it real? Scientists are linking the Pandemrix H1N1 swine flu vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline in 2009 with 795 cases of narcolepsy in children in Europe, Reuters reports.
There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Pandemrix increased the occurrence of narcolepsy onset in children in some countries and probably in most countries, says Emmanuel Mignot, a Stanford University narcolepsy expert.
The vaccine was not used in the United States because it contains an adjuvant, or booster, which regulators are wary of. But over 30 million people in 47 countries did receive the shot.
Angus Nicoll, a flu expert at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, says it s possible the children s genetic makeup, the vaccine and possibly a third factor like another infection combined to cause the narcolepsy cases. There are a number of studies being conducted.
In the meantime, ACSH staff is wondering, has there truly been a spike in narcolepsy cases?
ACSH s Dr. Gil Ross points out that 795 reported narcolepsy cases in 30 million vaccine recipients is equivalent to 27 cases per million people. Yet the incidence of narcolepsy in the general population is estimated to be between 200-500 cases per million thus, the incidence of narcolepsy in vaccine recipients appears to be less than in the general population, which is, of course, impossible. I don t see anything in these figures to indicate that the vaccine has any effect whatsoever on narcolepsy.
