Prairie State Wire

There were 89 deaths from chronic lower respiratory diseases reported in Illinois in the week ending Sept. 3, making up 5.5% of total deaths by all causes in Illinois, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 3, there were 1,615 deaths in the state. 22.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.6% were from cancer and 6.2% 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	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Heart disease	359	22.2
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	349	21.6
Cerebrovascular diseases	111	6.9
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	89	5.5
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	59	3.7
Alzheimer's disease	57	3.5
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	41	2.5
Diabetes mellitus	38	2.4
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	2.3
Influenza and pneumonia	21	1.3