Prairie State Wire

There were 560 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois in the week ending Jan. 22, making up 24.8 percent of total deaths by all causes in Illinois, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 22, there were 2,254 deaths in the state. 15.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 13.8 percent were from cancer and 52.1 percent were from COVID-19.

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	Cause of Death	% of Total Deaths
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	614	27.2
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	560	24.8
Heart disease	357	15.8
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	311	13.8
Cerebrovascular diseases	94	4.2
Alzheimer's disease	85	3.8
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	85	3.8
Diabetes mellitus	52	2.3
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	42	1.9
Influenza and pneumonia	28	1.2