Food poisoning fatalities in Vietnam fall in first 4 months

HO CHI MINH CITY, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 522 people in Vietnam suffered food poisoning, of whom six died, in the first four months of this year, its Preventive Health Department said Sunday.

In April alone, food poisoning cases in the country affected 20 local people, including three fatalities.

In the first four months of last year, 755 people in Vietnam suffered food poisoning, of whom 15 died.

In the first four months of this year, the country spotted 14,800 dengue fever patients, including four deaths, nearly 7,000 foot-and-mouth disease cases, 131 viral encephalitis sufferers, including two fatalities, and 18 human rabies deaths.

Vietnam currently has 209,400 HIV carriers, of whom 90,700 have become AIDS patients, the department said. To date, some 96,100 people in the country have died of AIDS-related diseases. Enditem