Prairie State Wire

There were 23 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Aug. 20, a 9.5% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 20, there were 2,056 deaths in the state. 22% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21% were from cancer and 8.6% 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 Aug. 20	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13
Heart disease	453	437
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	432	467
Cerebrovascular diseases	116	115
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	99	71
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	82	85
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	77	49
Alzheimer's disease	62	59
Diabetes mellitus	50	48
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	44	41
Influenza and pneumonia	23	21

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13
Alzheimer disease and dementia	192	176