Why We Keep Showing Up: Ending the Year on Truth, Not Noise

This essay first appeared on Behind ICT's Mask LinkedIn newsletter.

As we finalize the posts for the rest of the year, I can’t help thinking about the roller coaster this year has been.

Against the backdrop of the 6 conferences I attended and the joy of being with people who share our beliefs at Infection Control Today^® (ICT^®), learning new things, and seeing such positive progress, the policies from Washington, DC, always loomed large. We always wondered what would happen next, what changes would surprise us, and what would be taken away.

To stay current with public sentiment, I spend a great deal of time reading comments on Facebook under posts about infection prevention and control (IPC) topics. I am usually horrified and appalled by the viciousness, hatred, and vitriol against the truth.

I spend so much time reading and talking to people in the IPC space that it is easy to forget that some individuals really believe that Tylenol causes autism, and COVID-19 is just a hoax/COVID-19 vaccines kill people—all the misinformation, disinformation, and, yes, downright lies.

The lies and half-truths are insidious. Sometimes, I’m afraid it is a losing battle.

But it is not a war we can stop fighting.

And it takes all of us to fight it.

It takes infection preventionists who patiently explain, again and again, why hand hygiene matters and why vaccines save lives. It takes environmental services teams who understand that cleaning is not cosmetic but clinical. It takes sterile processing professionals who know that a single missed step can change the outcome. It takes public health leaders who stand by evidence even when it is unpopular.

It also takes trusted sources. At ICT, we take that responsibility seriously. Our role is not to shout louder than misinformation but to be steadier than it. To provide data when emotions run high. To publish nuance when social media demands absolutes. To give you language you can use when conversations become uncomfortable or confrontational.

We know this work is exhausting. Correcting misinformation is rarely rewarded, and the emotional toll of constant resistance is real. But silence has a cost, too. When falsehoods go unchallenged, they harden into belief. When evidence is absent, fear fills the space.

As we move into the final week of the year, I hope you find moments of rest and restoration. You have earned them. But I also hope you remember that your voice matters more than you may realize. A single conversation can change a mind. A single clarification can prevent harm. A single patient interaction can ripple outward in ways we never fully see.

Next year will bring new challenges, new narratives, and new attempts to undermine science and public trust. We cannot control that. What we can control is how we respond. With facts. With empathy. With persistence.

The work of infection prevention has always been about more than policies and protocols. It is about people. It is about protecting the vulnerable. And it is about standing firm in the face of uncertainty.

We will keep showing up. We hope you will, too.

Tori

Tori Whitacre Martonicz

Lead Editor

Infection Control Today

PS. As always, I welcome your input. Email me at tmartonicz@mjhlifesciences.com.