San Francisco records 1st flu-related death this season
An influenza (flu) virus is shown. (Getty Images stock photo)
(NEW YORK) — San Francisco health officials this week reported the city’s first flu death of the 2026-27 flu season.
The person was an adult, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), but no other information was provided.
“This sad news reminds us that respiratory viruses such as flu and COVID should be taken very seriously, especially for people who are at higher risk of getting sick,” Dr. Susan Philip, San Francisco health officer, said in a statement on Thursday. “With fall festivities approaching, we want people to stay healthy and do all the fun and joyful things they want to do. Vaccines help make this happen.”
Data from the California Department of Public Health shows 26 individuals have died so far from flu statewide this season. It’s unclear if this total includes the San Francisco patient.
The deaths have occurred relatively early in the respiratory virus season. According to the official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tabulation, flu season doesn’t start for another two weeks.
Current levels of respiratory virus activity nationally are listed as “very low,” according to CDC data.
Although flu circulates year-round, cases typically increase in the fall and winter months. The CDC advises that people get their flu vaccine before the end of October.
Everyone over the age of 6 months is currently eligible for a flu vaccine. Older adults — over 65 years old — may be eligible for a higher dose version.
The shots are available at most pharmacies and doctors’ offices. The flu vaccine is often free of charge, with most health insurance covering the shot.
The SFDPH also recommends staying up to date with COVID and RSV vaccines in line with recommendations from the state’s health department.
The updated 2026-27 COVID vaccine is recommended for:
Those ages 6 to 23 months and ages 65 and older
Those ages 2 to 18 with risk factors or never vaccinated against COVID-19
Those ages 19 to 64 with risk factors
Anyone who is planning pregnancy, pregnant or postpartum
Anyone in close contact with others with risk factors, including healthcare workers
The RSV vaccine is recommended for:
Previously unvaccinated adults ages 75 and older, and ages 50 to 74 with risk factors
Previously unvaccinated pregnant people 32 to 36 weeks gestation
Infants younger than 8 months whose mother did not receive a vaccine while pregnant and high-risk children ages 8 to 19 months are eligible to receive an injectable monoclonal antibody shot to protect against RSV.
President Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz, to be the Director of the CDC, April 16, 2026. (Department of Health and Human Services)
(WASHINGTON) — Dr. Erica Schwartz is set to appear before a Senate committee on Wednesday for her confirmation hearing as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Schwartz, a formal deputy surgeon general, was nominated by President Donald Trump in April. Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social, describing Schwartz as “incredibly talented.”
Schwartz is the fourth person named or nominated as head of the CDC since last summer. If confirmed by the Senate, Schwartz will replace Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, who took over as acting CDC director in February.
Schwartz earned a medical degree from Brown University and served in the U.S. Navy until 2005.
She served in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, as the Coast Guard Chief Medical Officer and as Deputy Surgeon General from 2019 to early 2021, during the first Trump administration.
“I was very pleased to see Dr. Schwartz nominated to be the next director of the CDC,” Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the CDC during the Obama administration, told ABC News. “What struck me is how refreshing it felt to see someone nominated for this job who actually has deep experience in public health and has the credentials necessary to lead a complex public health organization.”
Besser expressed concern about whether Schwartz, if confirmed, will have the independence from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make public health recommendations, referencing a previous CDC director: Susan Monarez.
Monarez was confirmed as CDC director in July 2025, but she held the post for less than a month. Monarez was fired by Kennedy for reportedly not rubber-stamping the health secretary’s vaccine agenda or firing high-ranking CDC leaders whom he opposed.
The turmoil led to both Kennedy and Monarez appearing in front of Senate committees to address the ousting.
At a Senate hearing, Kennedy denied telling Monarez to accept vaccine recommendations without scientific evidence and claimed she was fired in part because she told him she was untrustworthy.
Besser said he expects that Schwartz will be asked by members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) about her perspectives on vaccinations, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the rise of measles in the U.S.
“Those are some of the critical areas I think she’ll be asked about. There are so many other areas that are of concern to those who have relied on the CDC to prevent illness and promote health,” he said.
Sean Kaufman will appear before the Senate HELP Committee for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Kaufman was nominated to lead the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, which was recently absorbed under CDC as part of an HHS reorganization in 2025.
Kaufman has claimed without evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine caused “excessive death and injury … in the United States and globally.” Health officials have said COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective following clinical trials that involved tens of thousands of people and have since helped save millions of lives.
“What concerns me about Mr. Kaufman is that he has expressed very strong anti-vaccine views, and the ASPR is responsible for the strategic national stockpile,” Besser said. “So, I hope that the committee asks him questions to fully understand the approach that he would take in that role.”
Adi, 38, has been struggling to access health services for her daughter Camila, 10, who was injured a few months ago, due to the high cost and limited services. (Mauro Jose Medina Garcia/The International Rescue Committee)
(NEW YORK) — As Venezuela continues to recover from powerful twin earthquakes that rocked the north-central part of the country in late June, humanitarian organizations are warning of a “dire” situation on the ground.
The earthquakes, which officials say killed more than 4,400 people and injured more than 16,000, have displaced thousands of Venezuelans.
Aid workers told ABC News that countless people are in need of psychosocial support, in addition to those recovering from earthquake injuries.
Many Venezuelans are also suffering from chronic conditions — such as diabetes and hypertension — and are struggling to get care in the aftermath of the natural disaster.
Additionally, there has been a rise in reports of skin conditions and gastrointestinal diseases due to a lack of clean water and poor sanitation conditions, the workers said.
“The situation on the ground is pretty dire in terms of humanitarian needs,” Aisha Majid, a media manager at the international NGO Save the Children who is currently based in Caracas, told ABC News. “I’ve been here for a week, and there are thousands of families who are displaced on the streets.”
Mobile clinics treating wide range of conditions
Aid workers told ABC News that hospitals in Venezuela are currently overwhelmed treating people injured by the earthquakes, adding that some of the backlog predates the earthquakes.
“There are thousands of patients seeking help, and there aren’t enough doctors or hospitals or primary healthcare facilities,” Claudia Manresa, a regional compliance legal manager for the humanitarian organization Project HOPE in Latin America who is based in Venezuela, told ABC News. “There also aren’t enough medications, so this crisis joins a system that was already overwhelmed.”
Mobile clinics have been helping to fill some of the gaps. Manresa said Project HOPE has two mobile medical units running every day and, as of July 9, they have treated about 2,000 patients.
Save the Children is running a mobile clinic treating both patients with earthquake-related injuries, as well as other health needs including infections and chronic conditions. Majid said the organization is hoping to set up several mobile clinics across the capital of Caracas and the city of La Guaira, which was hit hard by the earthquakes.
Majid recalled that she visited a mobile clinic earlier in the month that Save the Children ran on the northeastern outskirts of Caracas through a local partner, which treated about 150 patients in around four hours.
“The second the clinic opened, there was a queue of people waiting to receive services, which just tells you how much in need people are, and the doctors in the clinic were working nonstop all day, just seeing patient after patient,” she said.
Everardo Esquivel, associate director for communications for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), told ABC News that many healthcare facilities were damaged in the earthquakes. As a result, he said people lost access to primary care and follow-up care.
Thirty-eight hospitals were damaged by the earthquakes, with the main referral hospital in La Guaira exceeding capacity within one day, according to the IRC.
The IRC’s mobile medical unit has been trying to help manage the increase in patient care, providing medicine for those with chronic conditions, including hypertension and diabetes, as well as antibiotics for certain conditions, he said.
Esquivel explained that there’s been a rise in skin conditions and diarrheal diseases due to the lack of clean water in the aftermath of the earthquake. Many shelters have virtually no access to toilets or showers, he said.
“People don’t have access to clean water and to properly clean wounds every day, so they get infections,” he said. “So, it’s two cases [at the mobile clinics]: it’s people with chronic diseases or in need of regular treatment and people who got new diseases related to the situation after the earthquakes.”
Need for psychosocial support
Humanitarian workers told ABC News there are also mental health issues that may arise after the earthquakes.
The World Health Organization said almost all people affected by emergencies experience psychological distress, which generally improves over time, but a fraction of people will go on to develop mental health conditions.
Manresa said Project HOPE is providing what aid workers refer to as psychological first aid, with a psychologist team deployed in La Guaira, offering different activities for kids and for adults.
She said the organization also has several phone lines that people can contact if they need help.
Children are particularly vulnerable. After a disaster, they may develop mental health symptoms including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A 2017 review of eight studies of children following natural disasters found that 4% to 23% experienced chronic symptoms, with persistently elevated PTSD over time.
Majid, with Save the Children, said she’s met several children who are experiencing trauma after the earthquake.
Majid recalled meeting an 11-year-old boy who told her he’s scared when he sees cracks in the ground because he thinks it means the Earth will open again. She noted that another boy told her he’s scared to use the bathroom nearby because there is a crack in it.
“What we’re seeing is that there is a huge need for psychological support for children, and this is something that we provide through safe spaces that we run in affected areas,” Majid said. “And this is a place where children can come, they can play for a while.”
She noted that the organization has psychologists and specialists in mental health working with the young people there.
“It’s so important that children not only have a place where they can play but a place where they can also safely express their emotions and find a way to connect with the trauma and the grief that so many of them have been through,” she said.
