Sunshine Sentinel

There were 39 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending Oct. 15, 2022, a 29.1% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 15, 2022, there were 4,379 deaths in the state. 21.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.7% were from cancer and 5.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.4% 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 Oct. 15, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 8, 2022
Heart disease	931	882
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	862	915
Cerebrovascular diseases	315	316
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	221	247
Diabetes mellitus	153	127
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	139	147
Alzheimer's disease	128	123
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	89	93
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	65	55
Influenza and pneumonia	39	55

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 8, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	326	363