Green Mountain Times

There were 21 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Vermont during the week ending Feb. 26, a 16 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 26, there were 84 deaths in the state. 25 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 26.2 percent were from cancer and less than 11.9 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 2022-02-26	Number of Deaths 2022-02-19
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	22	26
Heart disease	21	25
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	10
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	< 10	16
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	0