Hoosier State Today

There were 18 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending November 6, a 28.6 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 1,491 deaths in the state. 18.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.3 percent were from cancer and 24.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.7 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	274	281
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	273	293
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	191	183
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	170	161
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	87	76
Cerebrovascular diseases	65	81
Alzheimer's disease	55	52
Diabetes mellitus	46	48
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	21	41
Influenza and pneumonia	18	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	129	127