Green Mountain Times

There were 18 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Vermont during the week ending Dec. 25, a 43.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 25, there were 85 deaths in the state. 23.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.2 percent were from cancer and less than 11.8 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 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Heart disease	20	26
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	18	32
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	14
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	< 10	17
Influenza and pneumonia	0	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	0