Sooner State News

There were 279 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Oklahoma during the week ending September 4, a 28.6 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 4, there were 1,038 deaths in the state. 15.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.2 percent were from cancer and 56.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.9 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 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	305	249
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	279	217
Heart disease	162	193
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	147	164
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	50	56
Alzheimer's disease	31	26
Diabetes mellitus	30	39
Cerebrovascular diseases	28	27
Influenza and pneumonia	12	11
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Alzheimer disease and dementia	72	61