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Five years after the pandemic began, covid-19 is now more consistent with an endemic disease, U.S. health experts said. It has become similar to influenza — an endemic disease — in terms of the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death, experts said. The coronavirus, which causes covid, is now less deadly, though it is more transmissible and is expected to continue experiencing waves, some of which could be severe, they said. ... There is no clear threshold for when a disease transitions from pandemic to endemic, but the endemicity of covid is largely agreed upon in the medical community, said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. (Bever and Gilbert, 3/13)

A new study suggests that kids who develop MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children), a severe complication following COVID-19 infections, may do so because COVID reactivates a latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in their bodies. The study appears in Nature. (Soucheray, 3/13)

After 150,000 articles and 17 million genome sequences, what has science taught us about SARS-CoV-2? (Callaway, 3/12)

The mRNA technology behind coronavirus vaccines is now being used to create bespoke vaccines for cancer patients. (Medeiros, 3/13)

Americans’ views of their mental and physical health are at the lowest point in nearly 25 years, a downturn that accelerated at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued since, according to a Gallup survey published Thursday. The poll found that some three-quarters of Americans said their mental health (at 75 percent) and physical health (at 76 percent) were “excellent” or “good.” (Timotija, 3/13)