I read with interest the letter to the editor regarding a possible association between H1N1 Influenza vaccination and the onset of narcolepsy.1 In the past year, I saw three girls, aged 5-7 years, with acute onset of severe daytime sleepiness and cataplexy, all of whom had MSLTs diagnostic for narcolepsy. It is very unusual for our Sleep Center to see so many young children present acutely over this time period. I contacted the families to determine their H1N1 status. One of the children had a documented case of H1N1 influenza that clearly occurred after the onset of narcolepsy symptoms; none of the three had been immunized.
I would caution anyone against making assumptions based on anecdotal data, especially when the denominator is unknown. A large number of people were immunized against H1N1 last year, and by chance some of these people would be likely to develop narcolepsy.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
Dr. Marcus has indicated no financial conflicts of interest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Dr. Marcus was supported by NIH grants RO1 HL58585 and UL1 RR-024134.
REFERENCES
- 1.Dauvilliers Y, Montplaisir J, Cochen V, et al. Post-H1N1 narcolepsy-cataplexy. Sleep. 2010;33:1428–30. doi: 10.1093/sleep/33.11.1428. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]