Mountain State Times

There were less than 10 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in West Virginia during the week ending August 28, an increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 79 deaths in the state. Less than 12.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease and 181 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 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	75	34
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	68	33
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	0
Heart disease	< 10	0
Influenza and pneumonia	0	0
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	0
Alzheimer's disease	0	0
Cerebrovascular diseases	0	0
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	0	0