Evergreen Reporter

There were 31 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, a 29.2% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, there were 1,281 deaths in the state. 19% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.6% were from cancer and 6.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.1% 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	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	251	254
Heart disease	243	242
Cerebrovascular diseases	77	55
Alzheimer's disease	59	61
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	49	39
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	47	65
Diabetes mellitus	44	26
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	31	24
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	17	10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	130	128