Pandemrix, a swine flu vaccine made by London-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, was linked to higher instances of narcolepsy in children aged 4 to 19, Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare announced earlier this month.
The study, conducted by the institute under the advice of the Finnish National Narcolepsy Task Force, examined hospital registry data from 2009-2010 and found that the likelihood of developing narcolepsy among children aged 4-19 who received Pandemrix was nine times that of those who weren’t vaccinated.
Between 2009 and 2010, 60 children between the ages of 4 and 19 were diagnosed with narcolepsy in Finland. Fifty-two of the 60, or 90 percent of the child narcolepsy patients, had been given the Pandemrix vaccine.
Researchers noted that the study could not definitively conclude that the Pandemrix vaccine caused all cases of narcolepsy, but said that some causality was likely.
“The National Narcolepsy Task Force finds it probable that Pandemrix®-vaccination contributed to the observed increase in incidence of narcolepsy among those 4 -19 years of age,” Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare said in a press statement.
Pandemrix, a swine flu vaccine developed specifically for the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak, was extensively given to Europeans—at least 30 million in Europe have received a Pandemrix shot—but the vaccine “is not licensed for use in the United States,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In response to the Finnish findings, the World Health Organization’s office branch has said it will be working together with the member states of the European Union and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to conduct further epidemiological studies on the link between narcolepsy and flu vaccines.
The study, conducted by the institute under the advice of the Finnish National Narcolepsy Task Force, examined hospital registry data from 2009-2010 and found that the likelihood of developing narcolepsy among children aged 4-19 who received Pandemrix was nine times that of those who weren’t vaccinated.
Between 2009 and 2010, 60 children between the ages of 4 and 19 were diagnosed with narcolepsy in Finland. Fifty-two of the 60, or 90 percent of the child narcolepsy patients, had been given the Pandemrix vaccine.
Researchers noted that the study could not definitively conclude that the Pandemrix vaccine caused all cases of narcolepsy, but said that some causality was likely.
“The National Narcolepsy Task Force finds it probable that Pandemrix®-vaccination contributed to the observed increase in incidence of narcolepsy among those 4 -19 years of age,” Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare said in a press statement.
Pandemrix, a swine flu vaccine developed specifically for the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak, was extensively given to Europeans—at least 30 million in Europe have received a Pandemrix shot—but the vaccine “is not licensed for use in the United States,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In response to the Finnish findings, the World Health Organization’s office branch has said it will be working together with the member states of the European Union and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to conduct further epidemiological studies on the link between narcolepsy and flu vaccines.
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