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SEOUL: South Korean officials said Thursday they will issue warnings on the use of the avian influenza drug Tamiflu following reports of severe psychological side affects on Japanese users.
"We plan to issue a special document to doctors and pharmacists that notifies them of recent reports of suicides and strange behaviour by people who have taken the drug," said Shin Joon-soo, an official with the Korea Food and Drug Administration.
Japan has ordered the importer of Tamiflu to warn that teenagers should not be prescribed the drug, after further reports of abnormal behaviour by patients.
The health ministry in Tokyo said it had received reports that two teenagers jumped off the second floor of their houses and broke their legs after taking Tamiflu.
"The document will also advise medical experts to report immediately to officials when witnessing similar mental symptoms," Shin was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.
Swiss drugmaker Roche, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, has denied any connection between the drug and the incidents.
South Korea was hit hard by bird flu between December 2003 and March 2004 and suffered several more outbreaks this winter, but no one in the country has died of the disease. - AFP/yy
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