Prairie State Wire

There were 44 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Illinois during the week ending March 26, a 22.8% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 26, there were 1,582 deaths in the state. 20.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6% were from cancer and 4.9% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.2% 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 March 26	Deaths in Week Ending March 19
Heart disease	327	387
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	326	383
Cerebrovascular diseases	79	91
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	70	84
Alzheimer's disease	51	59
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	49	43
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	44	57
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	33	43
Influenza and pneumonia	32	26
Diabetes mellitus	28	39

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 26	Deaths in Week Ending March 19
Alzheimer disease and dementia	145	159