Narcolepsy in Saudi patients before and after the 2009 H1N1 vaccination: The experience of 2 referral centers

OBJECTIVES: To assess the number of Saudi patients diagnosed with narcolepsy in 2 tertiary centers before and after the introduction of the 2009 A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine. METHODS: We started collecting data after the first international report of an association between the A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine and narcolepsy between January 2010 and December 2016. All patients diagnosed with narcolepsy after 2009 were included and data were collected for 7 years to account for any possible delays in the diagnosis of narcolepsy. RESULTS: One-hundred and seventy-three patients with narcolepsy were identified. The majority (144 patients, 83%) had symptom onset before June 2009. Only 29 patients (17%) had symptom onset after 2009. No difference in the annual number of narcolepsy cases was found before and after 2009. CONCLUSION: Based on data obtained from 2 tertiary care sleep disorders center, there was no increase in the number of cases of narcolepsy among Saudis following the introduction of the influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccination.