Old Dominion News

There were 43 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending Dec. 25, a 35.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 25, there were 1,134 deaths in the state. 19 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19 percent were from cancer and 23.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8 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 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	216	312
Heart disease	215	276
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	136	172
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	127	152
Cerebrovascular diseases	53	78
Alzheimer's disease	43	49
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	43	67
Diabetes mellitus	31	54
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	24	25
Influenza and pneumonia	14	16

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	100	145