Garden State Times

There were 25 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending September 11, a 8.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 11, there were 1,519 deaths in the state. 21.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.3 percent were from cancer and 15.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8 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 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Heart disease	332	338
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	308	305
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	123	118
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	112	105
Cerebrovascular diseases	67	81
Alzheimer's disease	44	35
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	40	28
Diabetes mellitus	32	38
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	29	22
Influenza and pneumonia	25	23

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	119	101