Prairie State Wire

There were 132 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending November 6, a 19 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 2,346 deaths in the state. 19 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.2 percent were from cancer and 11.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.4 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	475	430
Heart disease	446	443
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	146	179
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	132	163
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	119	82
Cerebrovascular diseases	115	142
Alzheimer's disease	78	88
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	50	48
Diabetes mellitus	47	65
Influenza and pneumonia	27	39

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	197	212