The mystery surrounding the tragic death of actor Gene Hackman and his wife was solved this week when officials announced that his wife died of a rare infectious disease and Hackman of complications from Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease. But did you know that his death may also be linked to an infectious disease?

What happened to Gene Hackman and his wife?

From media reports, the famous actor had been suffering from Alzheimer’s. As is common in people with advanced dementia, he had withdrawn from public life and required intensive home support. On February 26, both he and his wife were found dead. An intensive, highly public investigation followed.

The conclusion of the investigation: Hackman’s wife likely died on February 11, 2025, of an infection unique to the desert southwest, Hantavirus.

Hantavirus is similar to the well-known (and feared) Ebola virus. It is a viral hemorrhagic fever that first causes flu-like symptoms; it makes blood vessels leaky and leads to death from pneumonia and other organ failure. Unlike Ebola, hantavirus is primarily acquired from contact with the physical environment (specifically, contact with rodent feces or urine) and is not transmitted person-to-person.

The official report states that Hackman died of heart disease about seven days after his wife. I do not have any direct knowledge of this case, but this sounds to me more like a heart attack was the final mechanism of death. The underlying cause of his death was advanced dementia from Alzheimer’s, which required full-time care. Once that care ceased, he died, with the final event being a heart attack.

Can Gene Hackman’s Death Be Linked to an Infection?

Alzheimer’s remains a critical area of research because we lack accurate diagnostic tests, effective monitoring tools, or highly effective treatments. The most important pathway to tests and treatments is understanding why people develop Alzheimer’s.

Increasingly, researchers believe that infectious diseases may be a cause or contributor. Emerging research suggests that different types of infections lead to inflammation in the brain and or immune responses that lead to dementia.

Below, I describe two of the leading theories.

Neuroinflammation and infections

Infections by viruses (herpes simplex virus 1, varicella zoster virus) and by bacteria that cause gum disease have been linked to inflammation in the brain.

One hallmark of Alzheimer’s is a fragment of proteins known as Amyloid-beta (Aβ). These fragments clump into plaques that damage neurons and blood vessels in the brain. The theory is that Aβ and another damaging protein called Tau are byproducts of the immune system fighting these infections. Alzheimer’s may be an unintended consequence of the body’s attempt to fight off viruses and bacteria.

Adding to this is the possibility that a genetic variant (the APOE ε4 allele) may make people more susceptible to herpes simplex virus-1 (the virus that causes cold sores), which may increase Alzheimer’s risk.

Lifetime Impact of Infections

Another possibility is that repeated infections over a lifetime lead to cumulative brain damage, increasing the risk of AD or other forms of dementia.

In one study involving hundreds of thousands of people from Finland and the UK, researchers found that severe infections requiring hospital treatment were associated with a long-term increased risk of dementia, including vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Another study in Denmark analyzed data from 1.4 million people over 40 years to evaluate the association between recurrent severe infections and dementia. They found a clear dose-response relationship: the more episodes of severe infection you have in your lifetime, the higher your risk of developing dementia.

We do not know the exact reasons why this happens. Researchers hypothesize that infections trigger inflammatory cascades that can cross the blood-brain barrier, particularly when recurring frequently.

What does this mean for your health?

Prompt treatment of infections and certain vaccines may help protect against the development of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. In a future blog post, I’ll discuss how this affects the decision to get the shingles vaccine.

There are many reasons to stay up-to-date on your vaccines, especially with measles resurging, and to seek prompt medical attention for symptoms of severe infection. And, as we learn more about the death of Hackman and his wife, keeping your brain healthy may be one additional reason.