Old Dominion News

There were 62 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending July 3, a 44.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 3, there were 1,400 deaths in the state. 18.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.1 percent were from cancer and 3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.1 percent of deaths were from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	282	284
Heart disease	262	257
Cerebrovascular diseases	72	80
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	62	43
Diabetes mellitus	53	45
Alzheimer's disease	37	45
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	31	24
Influenza and pneumonia	23	14
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	23	32
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	19	28

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	156	131