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The multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19 appears to be an abnormal immune response to the novel coronavirus, similar to but distinct from Kawasaki disease, according to a research letter published today in Nature Medicine. Led by researchers at King's College London, the study evaluated the clinical characteristics and immune profiles of 25 UK children hospitalized for MIS-C from Apr 27 to May 25. (8/18)

The black Labrador circled a giant horizontal metal wheel, sniffing the cans at the end of each spoke before stopping abruptly in front of one. Head up and ears pricked, Blaze froze, staring intently ahead. “That’s amazing! Just amazing!” exclaimed Cynthia Otto, director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Blaze is one of nine dogs enrolled in a University of Pennsylvania study into whether dogs can detect a distinct smell in people infected with the novel coronavirus. (Stead Sellers, 8/18)

A review of 18 US and international public health and governmental websites with COVID-19 information for the public—including those of the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—has found that all exceeded the recommended reading level and used sentence structures and technical terminology that would hinder understanding. The review, published today in JAMA Network Open, used five common readability formulas and health readability guidelines to evaluate the websites of three public health agencies and 15 official governmental sites of countries with English-language guidelines and at least 5,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Apr 5. (8/18)

After adjusting for sociodemographic factors and underlying conditions, black COVID-19 patients were no more likely than white patients to die of any cause in hospitals, a retrospective study published today in JAMA Network Open has found. Researchers at Ascension Health in St. Louis analyzed data from 11,210 adults with COVID-19 in 92 hospitals in 12 states from Feb 19 to May 31. (Van Beusekom, 8/18)

Black Americans are dying from COVID-19 at nearly 2 ½ times the rate of white people nationwide, according to the COVID Tracking Project, and despite representing roughly 13 percent of the population, they’ve accounted for 22 percent of coronavirus deaths in cases in which race and ethnicity are known. And yet, in a sign of deep-seated and well-earned distrust in the US medical establishment, surveys have shown consistently that Black Americans are less willing than other racial and ethnic groups to accept a coronavirus vaccine. (Pan, 8/18)

A new advisory board, created to review the ethics of proposed fetal tissue research grants, is urging the Trump administration to block government funding for nearly all of the applications — essentially seeking to ban support for most such scientific work. The recommendation that the National Institutes of Health withhold funds from all but one of a slate of 14 research proposals means that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who has the final say, would need to buck the will of a board he convened — and of social conservatives crucial to President Trump’s political base — for the projects to get federal support. (Goldstein, 8/18)