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By Roni Caryn Rabin
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Covid, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States last year, went from being the third leading cause in 2020 and 2021, when virus deaths were replaced only by core diseases and cancer, the National Center for Health Statistics reported Thursday.
Unintentional injuries, a category that includes drug overdoses and auto injuries, were to blame for more deaths than Covid last year and were the third leading cause of death in the country. Deaths from central disease and cancer increased between 2022 and 2021.
Some 186,702 of the 3. 2 million deaths in the U. S. In 2022 they were caused by covid. The virus contributed to another 58,284 deaths of which the underlying cause was not considered. A large proportion of covid deaths occurred in the first few months of 2022.
In total, the virus played some role in close to a quarter of a million deaths last year, 47% of the 462,193 covid-related deaths in 2021.
The covid death rate almost halved last year, with an age-adjusted figure falling to 61. 3 deaths compared to another 100,000 people from 115. 6 compared to another 100,000 people in 2021. The data shows that the number of victims of the pandemic has decreased especially as 2022 progressed.
But the report’s authors noted that, even now, covid is killing many Americans.
“The death rate has gone down a lot, but we also need to emphasize that we’re not out of the woods here,” said Dr. Robert Anderson, leader of the mortality statistics branch at the National Center for Health Statistics. “There are still many other people who have died, and we are still seeing deaths in 2023 as well. “
Nearly 35,000 more people have died of covid so far this year, he added. The total number of deaths in the United States is still higher than before the pandemic, which was 2. 9 million, suggesting that covid has had a broader effect on overall death ratesArray The outbreak has led others to delay medical care, for example, and exacerbated other ailments they possibly would have had.
“We would expect some deaths to pile up because the population is aging, but it’s way above what we would have expected without the pandemic,” Dr. Anderson said.
Men, adults 85 and older, and American Indians or Alaskan Americans were much more likely than other Americans to have died of covid last year. In contrast, Asian Americans and children aged five to 14 had the lowest death rates.
Black Americans and American Indians or Alaska Natives had age-adjusted all-cause death rates. Death rates were lower for multiracial and Asian people.
Compared to the early days of the pandemic, Covid is less likely to be fatal last year. It accounted for 76% of cases where it appeared on death certificates, up from 90% in the first two years of the pandemic.
The number of deaths caused by covid is expected to continue to decline this year, but may still exceed 100,000, Dr. Anderson said: “It looks like the number will continue to decline, but it’s not trivial yet. “
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