HO CHI MINH CITY, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Sixty-two cases of food poisoning occurred in Vietnam from January to September, affecting 1,557 people, of whom 10 died, its Preventive Health Department said Friday.

In September alone, six food poisoning cases were reported in the country, affecting 55 local people, including two fatalities.

In the first nine months of last year, Vietnam faced 84 cases of food poisoning which affected 2,572 people, of whom 17 died.

In the first nine months of this year, the country spotted 56,100 dengue fever patients, including 11 deaths, 42,800 foot-and-mouth disease cases, 630 viral encephalitis sufferers, including 18 fatalities, and 57 human rabies deaths.

Vietnam currently has 208,500 HIV carriers, of whom nearly 93,100 have become AIDS patients, the department said. To date, 98,070 people in the country have died of AIDS-related diseases.