GlaxoSmithKline, maker of a swine flu vaccine, has connected the flu to a sleeping disorder in the children and teenagers, as well as stated Australians were safe and not at risk.

Also, the European drug regulators cautioned that the Pandemrix vaccine should not be administered to people under the age of 20, except no other vaccine is available to be used against the fatal H1N1 flu virus.

However, the warning came after the study, which revealed that children and teenagers vaccinated with Pandemrix were at risk of developing ‘narcolepsy’ and ‘a sleep disorder’ which involves people falling asleep ‘suddenly and unexpectedly’.

GlaxoSmithKline said: “While Pandemrix had been given to more than 30 million people worldwide, no Australians had been immunized with it”, hence, Pandemrix has been registered to be used in flu pandemics in Australia by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, though it is yet to be used by doctors.

Moreover, over 30 million people in 47 countries were reported to be vaccinated with Pandemrix after it was authorized for use in 2009 during the H1N1 pandemic, the sum of 335 cases of ‘narcolepsy’ in people vaccinated with the drug have been reported to GSK, as 68% of the cases come from Finland and Sweden.