Sunflower State News

There were 89 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Kansas during the week ending December 4, a 15.6 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 4, there were 618 deaths in the state. 16.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.6 percent were from cancer and 27.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.8 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 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	109	124
Heart disease	103	112
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	89	77
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	81	67
Cerebrovascular diseases	32	37
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	29	28
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	14
Diabetes mellitus	17	11
Alzheimer's disease	14	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Alzheimer disease and dementia	67	63