Washington, May 5 (IANS): Covid-19 was the fourth leading cause of death among Americans in 2022, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

More than 3.2 million persons died in the US during January to December 2022.

Heart disease (699,659) remained the top reason for death, followed by cancer (607,790), unintentional injuries (218,064) -- which includes drug overdoses and car accidents -- and Covid (186,702).

However, the death rate in 2022 decreased by 5.3 per cent, from 879.7 per 100,000 persons in 2021 to 832.8.

While heart disease and cancer deaths increased in 2022 compared with 2021 (accounting for 695,547 and 605,213 deaths respectively), deaths associated with Covid decreased.

Covid-19 was the underlying cause for 5.7 per cent of all deaths in 2022, decreasing from 12 per cent (416,893 deaths) in 2021.

Overall, Covid-associated death rate among males (76.3) was higher compared with that among females (49.8).

It also decreased from 2021 to 2022 among groups more than 15 years of age, while the rate increased for all age groups under 15 years. However, the CDC has not given the reason behind this.

Rise in heart disease cases may be due to Covid, as several studies have pointed out the increased risk for cardiovascular diseases for at least a year after recovery.

"The death rate went down by a lot, but we also want to emphasise we're not out of the woods here," Dr Robert Anderson, the chief of the mortality statistics branch at the National Center for Health Statistics, was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

"There are still a lot of people who died, and we're still seeing deaths in 2023 as well," Anderson added.