Magnolia State News

There were 54 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Mississippi during the week ending Jan. 1, a 38.5 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 1, there were 661 deaths in the state. 22.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16 percent were from cancer and 18 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.5 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 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
Heart disease	150	143
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	106	97
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	65	46
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	54	39
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	53	44
Cerebrovascular diseases	32	36
Alzheimer's disease	21	27
Diabetes mellitus	19	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	13
Influenza and pneumonia	14	12

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
Alzheimer disease and dementia	43	46