May 7 (Reuters) - The European Union's health regulator

said on Wednesday it was reviewing Valneva's

chikungunya vaccine after reports of serious side effects in

older adults.

The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) safety committee has

recommended temporarily restricting the use of the vaccine,

branded as Ixchiq, in adults aged 65 years and older.

About 17 serious adverse events, including two deaths, have

been reported so far globally in people aged between 62 and 89

years who had received the vaccine, the EMA said in a statement.

The exact cause of the side effects and their relationship

with the vaccine have not yet been determined, the agency said,

adding that the affected individuals also had other health

conditions.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid

and Shinjini Ganguli)