The art of warning: Eye-catching images portray public health dangers

A National Academies' exhibit shows how health posters have, throughout modern history, communicated messages about infectious diseases.

By Stephanie Stapleton, AMNews staff. June 2, 2008.

Luscious and wonderful images that spread like a virus to inoculate people against disease -- these are words curator Michael Sappol, PhD, used to describe the pictures included in the upcoming National Academies' exhibit, "An Iconography of Contagion: 20th-Century Health Posters and the Visual Representation of Infectious Disease." Dr. Sappol is a historian at the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health.

"These are rich, cultural documents," he said, and they provide insights into the interplay between the public understanding of disease and society's values.

The show, which will be on display beginning this month in Washington, D.C., explores the use of these images since the early 1900s.

Over the years, public health posters have focused on a range of new and old diseases -- from tuberculosis and syphilis to HIV/AIDS. They communicated messages about infection control and prevention and aimed to alter behavior and public perceptions. But these historic images become even more striking when considered in the context of the eras during which they first appeared.

"The posters reflect the fears and concerns of the time and also the knowledge that was available," explained Mary Wilson, MD, an associate clinical professor at Harvard Medical School and of population and international health at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.

This dynamic is evident in the portrayals of disease vectors. Some World War II-era posters warning of malaria depicted mosquitoes with Japanese features, "giving the illness the face of an enemy," Dr. Sappol said. Another example he offered is a syphilis poster from the same period. It featured an image of an alluring woman who also is scary in a sexually aggressive way, while ignoring the fact that men were equally culpable in spreading the disease, he said.