Prairie State Wire

There were 39 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending June 4, a 23.5% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 4, there were 1,843 deaths in the state. 23.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21% were from cancer and 5.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.3% 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 June 4	Deaths in Week Ending May 28
Heart disease	436	410
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	387	407
Cerebrovascular diseases	100	100
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	87	84
Alzheimer's disease	68	78
Diabetes mellitus	61	53
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	56	66
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	42	50
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	39	51
Influenza and pneumonia	19	27

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 4	Deaths in Week Ending May 28
Alzheimer disease and dementia	171	179