Prairie State Wire

There were 45 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending June 11, a 15.4% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 11, there were 1,821 deaths in the state. 22.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.5% were from cancer and 6.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3% 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 11	Deaths in Week Ending June 4
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	410	387
Heart disease	405	447
Cerebrovascular diseases	106	101
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	83	88
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	70	56
Alzheimer's disease	67	68
Diabetes mellitus	63	62
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	50	42
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	45	39
Influenza and pneumonia	23	19

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 11	Deaths in Week Ending June 4
Alzheimer disease and dementia	151	171