A child at BC Roy Hospital. Picture by Amit Datta

Calcutta, Nov. 5: If your child is sick, the place to avoid is the state’s apex children’s hospital.

So scores of parents seem to have decided at BC Roy Hospital, which struggled to avert an exodus after 22 deaths in the past three days and two more today.

“My two-year-old son Bubai has had stomach pain for two days, so we decided to bring him here from Baruipur. But we now want to take him out. The doctors stopped us today but we just want to go,” said Netai Das.

Many others were equally determined to flee the “house of death” as soon they could, and were turning away from doctors and hospital staff who pleaded with them to stay.

For all the reassurances the doctors dripped, the scare threatens to get worse. Hospital officials said at least 40 babies were fighting for life, some with serious infections like septicaemia, meningitis or dengue, some others with respiratory disorder.

“Cases are flooding in — most of the patients are in bad shape,” said the director of medical education, Jayshree Mitra Ghosh.

A preliminary inquiry has revealed that of the 22 casualties between Thursday and Saturday, 14 children died within 24 hours of admission. “Some died within a couple of hours — that’s how serious their condition was,” a health official said.

Doctors said they were trying their best to explain to the patients’ families that things were not as bad as they seemed: being a referral hospital, BC Roy received the most difficult cases at a fairly late stage.

Officials tried to hold out hope, saying the decks had been cleared for the immediate appointment of 18 nurses.

The state health services, however, have been functioning without a director since October 31.