Old Dominion News

There were 12 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending October 23, a 40 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 23, there were 1,638 deaths in the state. 17.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.3 percent were from cancer and 24.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.2 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 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	284	252
Heart disease	283	300
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	211	218
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	188	204
Cerebrovascular diseases	81	69
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	71	58
Diabetes mellitus	46	46
Alzheimer's disease	46	33
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	35	32
Influenza and pneumonia	12	20

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	150	136