“An Iconography of Contagion,” an exhibition of international posters warning of syphilis, malaria, AIDS and other public health threats curated by the NLM’s Michael Sappol, PhD, was praised by The Washington Post and The New York Times for being both entertaining and instructive. The exhibition, which opened in November, is now at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC until December 19.

The Post commented, “Bracing, entertaining and sometimes infuriating, these public service announcements reveal governments managing — and, possibly, mismanaging — health crises amid often irrational human behavior.” Interviewed by the Times, Sappol said the posters “tried to convey the danger of disease and get people to change their behavior.”