ECDC has previously summarised information concerning the appearance of narcolepsy following the use of a specific pandemic vaccine (Pandemrix®) in children and adolescents in three European Countries.

EMA recommends restricting use in persons under 20 years of age Pandemrix to be used only in the absence of seasonal trivalent influenza vaccines, following link to very rare cases of narcolepsy in young people. Overall benefit-risk remains positive.

This is an authoritative independent evidence-based review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines. It confines itself to trials and observational studies where diagnostic tests confirmed influenza infection as the end point.

​A pair of linked papers from Finland concerning the above topic, one epidemiological and the second combining both clinical and epidemiological were published on March 28th in the open access journal, PLoS One.(1,2).

​A rapid communication published on April 12th 2012 describes the early results of the annual multicentre case-control study undertaken by the ECDC sponsored I-MOVE consortium whose work is coordinated by an Epiconcept team

Investigation of an increase in the incidence of narcolepsy in children and adolescents in 2009 and 2010 - Final Report of National Narcolepsy Study Steering Committee, Department of Health, Ireland

​In September 2010 Sweden and Finland noted a number of children had developed narcolepsy seemingly in association with having received the pandemic vaccine used almost exclusively in those countries (Pandemrix)

This is the first published study where an attempt has been made to understand the possible biological mechanisms behind development of narcolepsy following vaccination with Pandemrix™.