Prairie State Wire

There were 198 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Illinois during the week ending October 9, a 19.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 9, there were 2,303 deaths in the state. 20.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.8 percent were from cancer and 16.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8 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 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	503	461
Heart disease	466	468
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	198	246
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	182	219
Cerebrovascular diseases	128	120
Alzheimer's disease	91	63
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	73	94
Diabetes mellitus	45	57
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	44	45
Influenza and pneumonia	20	35

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Alzheimer disease and dementia	180	155