'Tamiflu nearly killed my daughter'

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12 August 2009: GMTV presenter Andrew Castle says taking Tamiflu left his 16-year-old daughter with a 'respiratory collapse' that almost killed her.

He made the revelation while interviewing the Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, on GMTV yesterday morning.

Andrew's daughter, Georgina, was one of the pupils at Alleyn's school in South London who was given Tamiflu as a precaution after other pupils at her school were diagnosed with swine flu.

Andrew said: 'Nobody checked that she had swine flu beforehand, the Health Protection Agency just handed out this Tamiflu and we suffered, Georgina suffered and lots of kids suffered in the school, very heavily.

'She was just given Tamiflu, she had asthma, she was showing flu-like symptoms, she took Tamiflu and almost died. The doctor's surgery wouldn't take her, the doctor said, 'No you can't take her to A+E', so she's just on the floor having this nightmare situation.

'A lot of people are in this position, they don't know what to do - do you call somebody up at a call centre who just ticks boxes and sends you Tamiflu? What are parents to do when their kids show the symptoms - take Tamiflu or not?'

Andy Burnham said the situation must have been 'very worrying' for Andrew, but explained that his daughter had been given Tamiflu during a different phase of the illness.

'With regard to the online service now we're still saying to people if they're worried they should go to their GP and get advice in the normal way.

'The questions [asked if you call the pandemic service] have been carefully drawn by doctors so that people can make a diagnosis and obviously people shouldn't take swine flu unless they're clear that they have actually got the symptoms of swine flu.'

This interview came after researchers at Oxford University said the risks of children taking Tamiflu outweighed the benefits.

But Andy Burnham said the government's advice had not changed and that Tamiflu is still our 'best line of defense' against swine flu. He pointed out that it's a new virus which is mild in most people, but has been more serious in a small number of cases.

'We've got to keep things in proportion and people shouldn't worry unnecessarily, obviously we do keep matters under review and it's right in my view to take a safety-first approach in these circumstances.'

'My message to parents would be they shouldn't be worried if their child is taking Tamiflu for swine flu, they should carry on.'

Should you give your kids Tamiflu? Read the latest news and advice and decide for yourself

Watch Andrew Castle interview Andy Burnham on GMTV