Prairie State Wire

There were 55 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Oct. 22, a 27.9% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 22, there were 2,285 deaths in the state. 21.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.7% were from cancer and 5.8% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10% 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 Oct. 22	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15
Heart disease	498	482
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	473	445
Cerebrovascular diseases	139	107
Alzheimer's disease	95	78
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	84	104
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	77	53
Diabetes mellitus	62	68
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	55	43
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	52	66
Influenza and pneumonia	39	34

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15
Alzheimer disease and dementia	228	201