Keystone Today

There were 18 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending August 7, a 41.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 2,479 deaths in the state. 21.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.1 percent were from cancer and 5.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 percent 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	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	547	534
Heart disease	532	543
Cerebrovascular diseases	120	114
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	95	97
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	73	46
Alzheimer's disease	72	73
Diabetes mellitus	64	55
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	55	40
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	40	53
Influenza and pneumonia	18	31

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	206	204