Keystone Today

There were 80 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending Feb. 5, a 29.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 5, there were 2,295 deaths in the state. 19.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15 percent were from cancer and 43.3 percent 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 2022-02-05	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	535	784
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	459	683
Heart disease	452	595
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	345	422
Cerebrovascular diseases	104	156
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	80	113
Alzheimer's disease	65	77
Diabetes mellitus	47	78
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	43	52
Influenza and pneumonia	25	38