Flu jab probe as cases here linked to sleep disorder

Four Irish people suffering from a sleeping disorder that may be linked to the swine flu jab are now part of a Europe-wide probe. Two of the Irish people — including a 10-year-old girl — have been diagnosed with narcolepsy, a rare condition where a person falls asleep suddenly and unexpectedly. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is conducting the investigation, said yesterday it was looking at 162 cases across Europe to find out whether there was any link between the swine flu jab and the condition. Hilary Dowdall, from Stamullen, Co Meath, told how her daughter Chloe was diagnosed with narcolepsy in November, six months after getting the injection. “I’m not jumping to any conclusions about a link but I am anxiously awaiting the results of the investigation,” she said. Chloe, a pupil at St Fiachra’s school, Beaumont, Dublin, was an active, healthy youngster but six weeks after getting the swine flu jab, she...