Palmetto State News

There were 49 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in South Carolina during the week ending Aug. 20, 2022, a 32.4% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 20, 2022, there were 1,061 deaths in the state. 19.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16% were from cancer and 11.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.7% 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	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13, 2022
Heart disease	210	185
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	170	201
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	71	59
Cerebrovascular diseases	64	39
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	49	37
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	46	45
Alzheimer's disease	34	44
Diabetes mellitus	28	28
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	18
Influenza and pneumonia	12	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	103	105