Old Dominion News

There were 65 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending Nov. 12, 2022, a 18.2% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Nov. 12, 2022, there were 1,517 deaths in the state. 21% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.9% were from cancer and 5.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 12.1% 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 Nov. 12, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5, 2022
Heart disease	318	281
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	287	309
Cerebrovascular diseases	82	85
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	65	55
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	51	52
Alzheimer's disease	50	56
Diabetes mellitus	47	49
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	36	31
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	32	24
Influenza and pneumonia	14	18

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 12, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	183	198