London, Aug. 11 (ANI): Andrew Castle, a TV presenter, confronted British Health Secretary Andy Burnham over a Government decision to carry on with ‘Tamiflu’ despite several warnings against it, saying that his daughter almost died after taking the anti-viral drug.

Burnham appeared had appeared on TV in a bid to reassure concerned parents, after Oxford University researchers warned that children should not be given Tamiflu.

Burnham maintained that the Government was right in advising children to take the anti-viral drug despite a warning to urgently reconsider its pandemic strategy.

Castle’s daughter Georgina was given Tamiflu when five pupils at Alleyn’s School in south London were diagnosed with the illness in May.

“I can tell you that my child - who was not diagnosed at all - she had asthma, she took Tamiflu and almost died. Nobody checked that she had swine flu beforehand. The Health Protection Agency just handed it out at Alleyn’s School in south London and a lot of kids suffered in the school very heavily,” The Times quoted Castle, as saying. “We saw a respiratory collapse through it and it almost cost my older child her life. The doctor’s surgery wouldn’t take her. The doctor said ‘No, we can’t take her to A&E. So, she’s just on the floor having this nightmare of a situation. A lot of people are in this situation. They don’t know what to do,” he added.

Burnham sympathised with Castle’s situation and gave a detailed explanation of how the Government is continuing on with the use of Tamiflu.

“We’ve got to keep things in proportion and people shouldn’t worry unnecessarily,” Burnham said. (ANI)