Sooner State News

There were 32 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Oklahoma during the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, a 5.9% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, there were 809 deaths in the state. 26.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.8% were from cancer and 6.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.4% 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. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Heart disease	213	199
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	152	152
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	54	44
Cerebrovascular diseases	33	34
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	32	34
Diabetes mellitus	29	26
Alzheimer's disease	21	32
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	21	17
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	11
Influenza and pneumonia	10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	52	81