The influence of narcolepsy among people of China has increased after the spread of swine flu in 2009. Narcolepsy is a condition, in which a person falls asleep all of a sudden and is believed to increase by 3 times in China.

The reason of the occurrence of the condition among people is claimed to be the after effects of the flu and not the anti-swine flu injections. According to Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, a Stanford University Narcolepsy Specialist, the person falls asleep in this condition because the cells in the brain that secretes hypocretin and controls sleeping activity die.

The cells are believed to die due to the autoimmune reactions that occur due to the viruses of flu in winters. A study commenced by the researchers from Stanford and Beijing University published in the journal, Annals of Neurology, analysed 154 people diagnosed with narcolepsy. The condition was found mostly among children affected from swine flu in 2009.

The researchers were thinking of the possibility of a link between Pandemrix vaccine and narcolepsy, it is the reaction of the immune system to Pandemrix that resulted in the occurrence of narcolepsy among the swine flu victims.

As per Dr. Mignot, “Our paper shows that to be sick with the flu itself can trigger narcolepsy. So may be regular flu vaccines can protect against it”.