Sunflower State News

There were 22 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Kansas during the week ending July 3, a 100 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 3, there were 522 deaths in the state. 23 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.4 percent were from cancer and 8.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.6 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 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Heart disease	120	102
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	91	106
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	33	32
Cerebrovascular diseases	24	19
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	24	11
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	22	11
Diabetes mellitus	15	14
Alzheimer's disease	12	21
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	17

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	50	59