A TV PRESENTER has told how his daughter had a severe reaction to swine flu drug Tamiflu.

GMTV's Andrew Castle says he believes she "almost died".

Challenging Health Secretary Andy Burnham live on air, he said his wife, Sophia, told Health Protection Agency staff that Georgina suffered from asthma but had flu-like symptoms and was advised to give her a double dose.

Mr Castle said Georgina, the elder of his two daughters, who has asthma, suffered a "respiratory collapse" after being given the medicine at Alleyn's School in Dulwich, south London, which was the centre of one of Britain's first outbreaks in May.

The next day she collapsed on the floor, barely able to breath with her face turning grey, according to Mr Castle.

She spent three days in isolation in St George's Hospital in south London, where she was given oxygen. But tests for the H1N1 virus were negative.

Mr Castle publicly praised the school's handling of the outbreak, although he now believes that the antiviral was more harmful than any symptoms she may have had.

"Nobody checked that she had swine flu before the Health Protection Agency just handed this Tamiflu out," he said.

Mr Burnham replied that the Government took a "safety first" approach.

He added: "Obviously it must have been a very worrying time for you, but that was at a very different phase of the illness, when we were seeing the scenes from Mexico and we were in what we called the containment phase where we were trying to isolate every case and then give Tamiflu to those around."

The drug is now only given to people who report symptom rather than being used as a precaution.

About 300,000 people in England have already received courses after calling the Government's National Pandemic Flu Service which went live two and a half weeks ago.

Mr Burnham said: "I listen very carefully to the experts in the Department of Health and the Chief Medical Officer, (he) reported yesterday that our advice is unchanged and that Tamiflu is our best line of defence against what is a new virus."

A spokeswoman for the HPA said that during the early “containment” phase, people who came in contact with swine flu cases were told to take one tablet a day for 10 days but those who showed symptoms were prescribed two a day for five days.

Roche, which manufacturers Tamiflu, said that double dosing of the drug is not licensed so is a matter for the prescriber.

A spokeswoman added: “Asthma is a serious condition which may be exacerbated by influenza.

“Tamiflu has been shown to improve respiratory function in asthmatic children with influenza which Nice (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) recognises as a high risk group that should be treated with antivirals.”