Prairie State Wire

There were 29 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending October 16, a 45 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 16, there were 2,145 deaths in the state. 20 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19 percent were from cancer and 18.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 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 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Heart disease	428	473
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	408	505
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	208	200
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	187	183
Cerebrovascular diseases	117	129
Alzheimer's disease	76	91
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	67	73
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	62	44
Diabetes mellitus	50	45
Influenza and pneumonia	29	20

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Alzheimer disease and dementia	179	181