Free Republic

The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic left a troubling legacy in Europe: More than 1300 people who received a vaccine to prevent the flu developed narcolepsy, an incurable, debilitating condition that causes overpowering daytime sleepiness, sometimes accompanied by a sudden muscle weakness in response to strong emotions such as laughter or anger. The manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has acknowledged the link, and some patients and their families have already been awarded cpmpensation. But how the vaccine might have triggered the condition has been unclear.In a paper in Science Translational Medicine (STM) this week, researchers offer a possible explanation. They show that the...

A 15-year-old girl is reportedly falling asleep up to 30 times a day after getting a flu shot. Australia’s News Limited reports Chloe Glasson began suffering from narcolepsy four months after being injected with Pandemrix, a vaccine to combat against swine flu, in November 2009. She is one of at least 100 people to suffer from the sleeping disorder after getting vaccinated with Pandemrix. “She has gone from being a bright, outgoing girl to one who cannot go out on her own,” Rebecca Glasson, Chloe’s mother, told News Limited. “She doesn’t doze for more than a couple of hours at...