A MOTHER feared her little girl was going to die after she suffered a severe reaction to the swine flu drug, Tamiflu.

Nicola Worthington’s daughter, Chloe, aged eight, was taken to hospital by ambulance when the antiviral left her struggling to breathe.

The situation was complicated because she suffers from asthma and is underweight for her age.

Now Miss Worthington has questioned whether the drug should be given to youngsters because of the potential side effects.

She said: “I don’t think that Tamiflu should be given to children without them being seen by a doctor.

“It was handed out with no questions asked about Chloe’s medical history.”

Chloe began to feel unwell and showed the symptoms of swine flu at the end of last month.

Miss Worthington rang the national pandemic flu service and was told to pick up Tamilflu. Instruction on the box said two 30mg tablets should be taken twice a day.

Half an hour after Chloe took the medication on Friday, July 30, she was struggling to breathe and was rushed to hospital.

Miss Worthington, aged 26, of Kildare Street, Farnworth, said: “Chloe started screaming ‘Help me I can’t breathe’ and she was in a lot of pain.

“She had stomach cramps and felt very sick. She started having a panic attack and couldn’t breathe.

“I was panicking and called the emergency doctor but they said it could be over an hour for them to come, so I phoned 999 and an ambulance came straight away.

“It was awful to see her like that. I was really scared and I thought she was going to die.”

Chloe spent eight hours at the Royal Bolton Hospital before being discharged.

Miss Worthington’s questions over the suitability of Tamiflu come just days after GMTV presenter Andrew Castle had a heated debate with Health Secretary Andy Burnham about the dangers of Tamiflu. Castle said his oldest daughter, Georgina, nearly died after taking the drug.

It also follows a study carried out by scientists from Oxford University and published in the British Medical Journal, which concluded that children should not be given antiviral drugs Tamiflu or Relenza because their side effects can outweigh the benefits.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “Whilst there is doubt about how swine flu affects children, we believe a safety-first approach of offering antivirals to everyone remains a sensible and responsible way forward.

“However, we will keep this policy under review as we learn more about the virus and its effects.”

amanda.smith@ theboltonnews.co.uk