The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is calling on pharmacies across the country not to sell aspirin to parents who plan to give it to their children.

The move comes in the wake of the recent re-emergence of bird flu in the country and caretaker Public Health Minister Pinij Charusombat's concerns about the unwelcome side-effects of aspirin in children.

Overdose or improper use of aspirin can be fatal.

Pinij expressed concern about the widespread use of aspirin following a report that a nine-year-old girl in Lop Buri recently succumbed to excessive use of the drug.

FDA secretary-general Pakdee Pothisiri yesterday said his agency would send a circular to pharmacies across the country tomorrow urging them not to sell aspirin to parents who planned to give it to their children.

One of the key symptoms of bird flu is a high fever, which is also associated with influenza and dengue.

"This year, bird-flu infections coincided with an influenza outbreak," said Medical Sciences Department director-general Dr Paijit Warachit.

Laboratory tests yesterday showed that two siblings aged eight and four in Nonthaburi were suffering from ordinary influenza - not bird flu as was initially suspected.

In Bangkok, there were seven patients on the bird-flu watch-list pending laboratory test results, Paijit said.

In Phichit, six patients were on the watch-list, two of whom were given Tamiflu.

This year, two people have been confirmed to have contracted bird flu, both of whom died.

Each initially tested negative for the H5N1 virus that causes the disease, however.

Paijit was evasive yesterday on speculation that the illegal use of bird-flu vaccine in fowl might have masked the presence of bird flu during testing.

The Agriculture Ministry has complained that illicit use of the bird-flu vaccine - now banned in the country - might have undermined the government's anti-bird-flu drive, which has been based on the presumption that no fowl in the country have been administered the drug.

Dr Charal Trinvudhipong, assistant to caretaker Agriculture Minister Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, said the vaccine was not 100-per-cent effective. To make matter worse, he said, it could leave infected birds appearing healthy. "Unknowingly, farmers might have handled these fowls without caution and exposed themselves to danger," he said.

The Agriculture Ministry was asking governors of provinces with commercial chicken farms to ensure that each farm complied with the relevant laws and regulations, he said.

"To farm operators - please stick to the laws and regulations! This is for the good of all parties," Charal said.

In a related development, Public Health Ministry deputy permanent secretary Narongsak Angkhasuwapala said his department would campaign for the safer handling of fowl as it had found out that most people continued to ignore precautionary instructions despite knowing the risks associated with bird flu.