Mountain State Times

There were less than 10 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in West Virginia during the week ending August 14, an increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 14, there were 32 deaths in the state. Less than 31.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, less than 31.3 percent were from cancer and 171.9 percent were from COVID-19.

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 2021-08-14	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	29	23
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	26	21
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	0
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	< 10	< 10
Heart disease	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	0
Diabetes mellitus	0	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	0	0
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	0	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	0	0