Keystone Today

There were 37 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending September 11, a 76.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 11, there were 2,733 deaths in the state. 21.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.7 percent were from cancer and 18.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8 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 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Heart disease	579	583
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	538	536
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	263	233
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	237	214
Cerebrovascular diseases	118	127
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	113	105
Alzheimer's disease	74	97
Diabetes mellitus	66	64
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	50	46
Influenza and pneumonia	37	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	218	261