Buckeye Reporter

There were 32 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending September 11, a 33.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 11, there were 2,755 deaths in the state. 19.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.3 percent were from cancer and 28.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.1 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	537	535
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	448	484
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	411	337
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	386	318
Cerebrovascular diseases	126	124
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	111	115
Diabetes mellitus	76	74
Alzheimer's disease	75	89
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	49	36
Influenza and pneumonia	32	24

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	195	196