The swine flu pandemic of late 2009 had a peculiar aftereffect in parts of Europe: a spike in children being diagnosed with narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder with symptoms including bouts of overwhelming daytime sleepiness. Researchers eventually linked a vaccine widely used to stave off the H1N1 flu virus to a small but increased risk of narcolepsy in children and teens. The vaccine, Pandemrix, used only in Europe, apparently triggered the disorder in roughly one out of 16,000 recipients in Finland. Sweden, Ireland, and England also found an increased risk, though not as dramatic as Finland's.
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