Old Dominion News

There were 43 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending Oct. 15, 2022, a 4.9% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 15, 2022, there were 1,514 deaths in the state. 20.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.5% were from cancer and 6.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.8% 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	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 8, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	310	281
Heart disease	307	314
Cerebrovascular diseases	95	91
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	83	67
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	59	59
Alzheimer's disease	47	48
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	43	41
Diabetes mellitus	41	60
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	25	26
Influenza and pneumonia	18	16

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 8, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	148	142