Magnolia State News

There were 221 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Mississippi during the week ending Jan. 29, a 6.8 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 29, there were 796 deaths in the state. 19.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 10.9 percent were from cancer and 59.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.9 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 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	252	249
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	221	207
Heart disease	156	173
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	87	118
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	43	46
Alzheimer's disease	38	36
Cerebrovascular diseases	30	33
Diabetes mellitus	26	38
Influenza and pneumonia	12	14
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	10	19

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
Alzheimer disease and dementia	63	66