The art of infectious disease.

• Author: Wilson, Mary Elizabeth
• Position: Mass Media

"It is revealing that the posters about venereal disease from the 1940s depict the woman as the villain--the source of sexually transmitted infection for the theoretically "clean" man. The message portrayed was that wily females ... were suspect, deceptive, and dangerous, and the savvy man was to stifle his sexual desires. "

INFECTIOUS DISEASES are dramatic, dynamic, and often unpredictable. They affect every individual and population, revealing the intimate exchanges between individuals and among networks of people. Through contagion, they link us. They have changed the outcome of wars, destroyed economies and societies, spawned social upheaval, shifted the demographic profiles of countries, and shaped history--and they remain with us, still making front page news as they exploit new vulnerabilities in human populations. Science has revealed many facts about microbes and infections, yet many mysteries remain.

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Hans Zinsser, in 1934's Rats, Lice and History, writes: "Infectious disease is one of the great tragedies of living things the struggle for existence between different forms of life." This struggle has inspired imagination and creativity of visual artists who have portrayed this continuing saga in many ways over the centuries.

Health posters provide a window through which the recent history of infectious diseases can be viewed. They show the diseases, health problems, and public health responses that have preoccupied health leaders over the years. They provide context and a setting; some tell a story. Each is the product of a specific lime and culture, though some images seem to evoke universal comprehension: skulls, skeletons, the image of the grim reaper, and the representation of microbes as ugly demons or monsterlike creatures. Not surprisingly, several of these posters focus on some of the gravest infectious disease scourges of the 20th century, including tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. These two infections remain major killers today.

Posters have been used to educate the public in ways to prevent the spread of infections. The images and words on the posters are intended to convey facts, change perceptions, alter behavior, and gain support for a particular approach--and sometimes elicit donations. In posters, one can see a fusion of art, culture, science, religion, and values. Those from the period of World War II integrate messages about the...