The virus was the third leading cause of death for the period from the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to October 2021, according to an analysis of national death certificate data by researchers at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI). COVID-19 accounted for one in eight deaths during the study period. Heart disease was first and cancer second, adding up to a total of nearly 1.3 million deaths combined. Accidents and strokes rounded out the top five, the researchers said in an NCI news release. When analyzing the study period in 2020 (March to December) and 2021 (January to October), the researchers found that the coronavirus was the fourth and fifth leading cause of death in 2020 for people aged 45 to 54 and 35 to 44. , respectively. In 2021, it became the first and second leading cause of death in these age groups. Among people age 85 and older, the virus was the second leading cause of death in 2020 and the third in 2021, which may be due to vaccination efforts among these older adults, the NCI team noted. In every age group 15 years and older, COVID-19 was one of the top five causes of death during this period, according to the researchers, led by Meredith Shiels of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. Deaths from other causes — including heart disease, accidents, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes — rose from 2019 to 2020, possibly because people were reluctant to seek medical care for fear of contracting COVID- 19, the researchers said, further proving the virus. impact on the health of Americans. Future years may find other effects from the virus, such as preventing many people from getting regular screening during the early months of the pandemic, which may lead to future increases in cancer deaths, the researchers added. The findings were published July 5 in JAMA Internal Medicine. More information The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more data on COVID-19. SOURCE: US National Cancer Institute, news release, July 5, 2022
