Sunshine Sentinel

There were 210 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Florida during the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, a 3.2% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, there were 4,362 deaths in the state. 20.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.5% were from cancer and 7.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8% 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)	893	949
Heart disease	885	873
Cerebrovascular diseases	313	332
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	210	217
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	203	216
Diabetes mellitus	150	139
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	127	131
Alzheimer's disease	121	101
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	75	76
Influenza and pneumonia	48	53

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	383	345