The Sconi

There were 118 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Wisconsin during the week ending September 4, a 8.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 4, there were 1,159 deaths in the state. 22.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.2 percent were from cancer and 18.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 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 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Heart disease	261	252
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	199	230
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	118	109
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	93	79
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	46	57
Cerebrovascular diseases	46	33
Alzheimer's disease	35	39
Diabetes mellitus	31	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	24
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Alzheimer disease and dementia	96	85