Keystone Today

There were 38 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending Feb. 12, a 18.8 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 12, there were 2,496 deaths in the state. 20.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.2 percent were from cancer and 30.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.3 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 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Heart disease	502	608
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	430	471
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	420	694
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	350	591
Cerebrovascular diseases	95	128
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	91	111
Alzheimer's disease	78	92
Diabetes mellitus	69	68
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	55	59
Influenza and pneumonia	38	32

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Alzheimer disease and dementia	231	250