Swine flu vaccine promotes narcolepsy according to researchers sleeping sickness

Study: Virus protein could promote the development of narcolepsy
The swine flu vaccine could promote the development of narcolepsy (sleeping sickness). This is shown in a US study that has examined the association between vaccination and an increase in the number of narcolepsy patients among the vaccinated. Thus, a particular virus protein favors the development of the disease.

Virus protein is associated with narcolepsy
In the spring of 2010, a large number of narcolepsy cases among children and adolescents were observed after a large vaccination campaign against swine flu. What was the exact cause of the disease, nobody knew at that time. In 2014, an international team of researchers from the Stanford School of Medicine in Palo Alto believed that they recognized the association between the flu, vaccine and narcolepsy and reported on it in the journal "Science Translational Medicine". According to the report, the hormone orexin, which is also known as hypocretin and produced in the hypothalamus, plays an essential role. The researchers hypothesized that two segments of orexin are very similar to the fragment of a protein found on H1N1 viruses. The T cells of narcolepsy patients respond to these segments and therefore attack not only the virus, but also their own body. The researchers, however, withdrew their article because they failed to reproduce the key findings.

Inoculation against swine flu can trigger sleeping sickness. Picture: stalnyk -fotolia

Current research, however, support the thesis of California scientists. For example, a recent study by researchers led by Lawrence Steinman of the University of Stanford, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, shows that narcolepsy is triggered by a specific viral protein that is very similar to a hypocretin docking site in the brain. The immune system is then directed against cells in the brain, which are responsible for the sleep behavior.

Swine flu vaccine Pandemrix could cause narcolepsy
Following recommendations of the competent authorities, millions of people in the EU were vaccinated against the swine flu virus H1N1 in the 2009/2010 swine flu season. The vaccines used included Pandemrix from the pharmaceutical company Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK). As the researchers report, narcolepsy has occurred in just under one in 10,000 people vaccinated. Although this vaccine by-product rarely occurs, it is particularly serious for those affected.

Their findings would emphasize the importance of producing non-ingredient vaccines that could be confused with the body's own substances by the immune system, Steinman and colleagues said.

In addition to Europe, an increased number of narcolepsy patients were also registered in China after the swine flu epidemic. However, those affected by the flu who were not vaccinated were affected. This led to a premonition that the virus as well as the vaccine containing attenuated, inactivated or fragments of viruses could be the cause of the disease. Flu vaccines always contain virus proteins in different concentrations.

A comparison of the composition of Pandemrix with that of the vaccine Focetria of Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG showed that Pandemrix contains a viral protein in larger amounts and is structurally very similar to the receptor for hypocretin. Focetria was also used during the swine flu season in Europe, but without increasing the narcolepsy frequency.

Based on these findings, blood samples from 20 Finnish patients suffering from narcolepsy after vaccination with Pandemrix were examined. The analysis showed that antibodies had formed in the blood that not only attach to the swine flu virus but also bind to the hypocretin receptor. As a result, these antibodies could be activated by the virus protein in humans with certain genetic traits and attack the hypocretin docking sites in the brain, the researchers report.

Narcolepsy causes extreme daytime sleepiness and a disturbed sleep-wake cycle
Narcolepsy is a rare disorder of sleep-wake regulation, commonly referred to as sleeping sickness. Patients report leaden fatigue, may suddenly fall asleep or lose muscle tension (cataplexy). Sleeping sickness is caused by the loss of certain cells in the brain that produce hypocretin, which controls the awake state. It is now known that people with a particular gene variant in their genome are especially affected by narcolepsy. Curable, the disease according to current medical knowledge is not. Since the severity and nature of the symptoms can vary greatly depending on the individual, the therapy depends on the leading symptoms. For example, antidepressants can be used to treat cataplexy and sleepiness stimulants.

According to estimates by the German Society for Sleep Medicine (DGSM), approximately 40,000 people in Germany suffer from sleeping sickness. (Ag)