Sunshine Sentinel

There were 127 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Florida during the week ending Oct. 29, 2022, a 15.9% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 29, 2022, there were 4,470 deaths in the state. 21.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4% were from cancer and 4.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.6% 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. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Heart disease	951	905
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	914	920
Cerebrovascular diseases	302	309
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	201	205
Diabetes mellitus	164	137
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	127	151
Alzheimer's disease	124	113
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	71	57
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	62	85
Influenza and pneumonia	52	41

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	384	344