Most HK children weren't given flu jab linked to sleep disorder

Children who were vaccinated against swine flu in 2009 were more likely to suffer from a sleep disorder, the World Health Organisation warned. But pharmacists said Hongkongers need not be unduly worried as the majority of the city's children were given vaccine produced by a different company.

Children aged four to 19 were more prone to developing narcolepsy, a condition in which people fall asleep uncontrollably and unexpectedly, if they had received the swine flu vaccination in 2009, according to a Finnish study published on February 1.

Since August last year, 12 countries, including Finland, Sweden and Iceland, have reported suspected cases of narcolepsy linked to swine flu jabs. A WHO committee reviewed the data on February 4 and decided further investigation was needed.

The Finnish study pointed out that genetics could also be a cause for narcolepsy in the children.

The only vaccine used in Finland against the pandemic in 2009 was GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) Pandemrix. In Hong Kong, the government bought vaccines only from Sanofi Aventis, and a Department of Health spokesman said Pandemrix was not registered and never sold in Hong Kong.

'Hong Kong people do not need to worry unduly. So far, there has not been any reports of narcolepsy [linked to the vaccine],' William Chui Chung-ming, vice-president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Hong Kong, said.