Teenager who falls asleep 30 times a day
A SCOTS teenager has spoken of her battle with a sleeping disorder brought on by the flu vaccine.
Chloe Glasson developed narcolepsy as a rare side effect of a flu jab she received in 2009.
She now falls asleep up to 30 times a day. But she has started a college course and hopes for a media career.
The 18-year-old from Dysart in Fife is fighting for compensation after contracting narcolepsy in 2010. Four months earlier, she had a swine flu vaccination.
Dozens of British patients who developed the condition after having the jab are also seeking payouts.
Miss Glasson said: ‘There is a lot of adversity with this disorder and I have had to fight to get the support that I need. But I want a career working in TV because I did a lot of theatre as a child.
‘However, it is stressful trying to cope with the amount of work I get because I fall asleep a lot.
‘I try to manage the condition by scheduling sleeps around my work to try to reboot myself. When I am at college, I have to have someone with me all the time to make sure I am OK if I fall asleep.
‘I live in student accommodation and that was a big step, but it’s something every teenager wants to do.’
Miss Glasson had the jab in 2009 as part of a routine NHS programme as she was asthmatic. At the time, a swine flu pandemic was sweeping the globe. A vaccine was swiftly developed and given to those most at risk of developing complications.
Pandemrix was approved for use despite minimal clinical trials. Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline was given indemnity against compensation, which meant any future actions would be paid for by the UK Government.
It has since emerged that at the same time as Miss Glasson’s symptoms developed, there was a big increase in similar cases across the UK and Northern Europe. Public health officials found one in every 55,000 swine flu jabs led to narcolepsy.
She said: ‘At first I didn’t realise what was going on. I was sleeping almost all day and I was awake almost all night. I was experiencing vivid dreams and hallucinations. My school grades were dropping. I thought it wasn’t right but that it was maybe a phase that would pass.
‘But by the time I got to high school I was falling asleep in every class. It has been difficult with friends and trying to get them to understand that it’s not something that can be joked about, it’s very serious.’
The illness took its toll on Miss Glasson’s social life and friendships and she suffered bullying. The pressure became so overwhelming she tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose.
But she has now left school for a college course which she hopes will eventually lead to a career in the media.
Although she is committed to studying and fulfilling her ambitions, the condition is life-long with no known cure.
She is fighting for a statutory £120,000 vaccine damage compensation payout from the Government, where someone is ‘severely’ and permanently disabled as a result of a vaccine.
A test case of a 14-year-old boy who developed narcolepsy after the swine flu vaccine is making its way through the courts, as the Government has been disputing that narcolepsy is a ‘severe’ disability.
Miss Glasson added: ‘I would say I am a pretty determined person. You can’t let it get to you.’