Old Dominion News

There were 24 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending October 30, a 100 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 30, there were 1,660 deaths in the state. 17.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.4 percent were from cancer and 21.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.6 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 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	306	286
Heart disease	292	285
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	187	214
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	173	191
Cerebrovascular diseases	69	84
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	59	72
Diabetes mellitus	57	46
Alzheimer's disease	45	46
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	38	35
Influenza and pneumonia	24	12

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Alzheimer disease and dementia	176	151