Monday, April 20, 2026 – KFF Health News
RFK Jr. Defends Health Care Agenda: ‘I’m Not Anti-Vax. I’m Pro Science.’
On Friday, lawmakers on Capitol Hill grilled HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about his stance on the measles vaccine, his thoughts about whether Donald Trump is fit to be president, and his take on autism and gender-affirming care. Plus, CDC workers are “guarded but hopeful” that Erica Schwartz could be the agency’s next leader.
ABC News:
RFK Jr. Defends Vaccine Views, Autism Comments During House Committee Hearing
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endured another grueling hearing on Capitol Hill focused on his decisions that lawmakers claim have impacted children’s health, including his views on vaccines and previous comments about autism. Following the hearing before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Friday, Kennedy ignored questions from reporters on President Donald Trump’s new nominee for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Erica Schwartz, and Kennedy’s upcoming hearings with Senators next week. (Jones II, 4/17)
On the CDC —
Stat:
Cautious Optimism Greets Erica Schwartz’s CDC Director Nomination
As one CDC employee, who asked not to be named, put it on Friday, among staff “the general vibe is guarded but hopeful.” Still, even people who are applauding the choice of Erica Schwartz, a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, are worried about whether she’s up for the challenges ahead. Schwartz’s predecessor, Susan Monarez, was fired after a standoff with health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccine policy. (Branswell, Payne and Cirruzzo, 4/18)
Outbreaks and health threats —
CIDRAP:
Extensively Drug-Resistant Shigella On The Rise In US, CDC Warns
Historically, shigellosis cases in the United States have primarily been seen in young children in daycare settings and in people who’ve traveled to countries with poor sanitation. Infections with Shigella, a gut pathogen that causes diarrhea and vomiting, have also been fairly easy to treat. But the profile of who’s most at risk of shigellosis is changing, and the infections is becoming much harder to treat, according to a report published last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the flagship publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Dall, 4/17)
CIDRAP:
Report Details Tetanus In 4 Unvaccinated US Kids, Including Refusal Of Post-Exposure Prevention
None of four US children diagnosed as having tetanus in 2024 had completed a recommended primary tetanus toxoid–containing vaccine (TTCV) series, and none received TTCV or preventive tetanus immunoglobulin (TIG) between their exposure and symptom onset. (Van Beusekom, 4/17)
CIDRAP:
CDC Reports 4 Flu Deaths In Kids As Flu Activity Ebbs, But Rotavirus Levels High Across US
Flu activity continues to decline across the country, but the season remains classified as high-severity for children, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting four new deaths in children in today’s FluView update, down from 12 the week before. Flu has claimed a total of 143 child deaths this season, compared with 296 for all of last season. Roughly 85% of pediatric deaths this season have occurred in children not fully vaccinated against flu. (Bergeson, 4/17)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Measles Case Highlights Risk For Babies Too Young For Vaccine
The San Francisco infant who was diagnosed with measles this week highlights an especially at-risk group: babies who are too young to get the measles vaccine, and who travel to areas where measles is circulating. The case, announced by the public health department Wednesday, is the first measles case in San Francisco since 2019, and comes as California and the nation are seeing a troubling resurgence of the highly infectious disease. (Ho, 4/18)
CIDRAP:
Study Links Long COVID In Kids To Worse Grades, Attention, And Social Life
Children and adolescents with long COVID are significantly more likely to experience worsening grades, difficulty concentrating, and having limited fun with friends, according to a new study published in Academic Pediatrics. The findings, drawn from the National Institutes of Health–funded Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) observational pediatric cohort, suggest that the impacts of long COVID in kids and adolescents extend beyond physical symptoms and may disrupt key aspects of learning and social development. (Bergeson, 4/17)
CIDRAP:
Dengue May Pose Similar Risk Of Guillain-Barre As Flu, Campylobacter
The risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) after confirmed dengue infection is similar to that after infection with established viral or bacterial triggers such as influenza or Campylobacter jejuni, per a letter to the editor published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 4/17)