Empire State Today

There were 49 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Dec. 25, a 2.1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 25, there were 2,301 deaths in the state. 23.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.7 percent were from cancer and 32.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.3 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 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Heart disease	533	494
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	391	410
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	361	393
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	357	376
Cerebrovascular diseases	94	85
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	91	99
Diabetes mellitus	55	56
Influenza and pneumonia	49	48
Alzheimer's disease	41	43
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	30	29

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	169	188