SPC 1017
Informative Speech
October 7, 2014
Meningitis
General Purpose: To Inform
Specific Purpose: To inform listeners about meningitis Introduction
1. Brain damage, deafness, loss of limbs, blindness, learning disabilities, death. Every single one of you sitting here today are three times more prone to die of meningitis than anyone else you know.
2. Receiving the meningococcal vaccine can reduce contracting the disease by 80-100%; 120-130 college students contract meningococcal meningitis and 15% die. 3. I have been a registered nurse for twenty-eight years and have personally seen the ravages of this disease several times over the course of my career. It amazes me each time on how fast it strikes, the damages it causes over a period of hours from the onset of symptoms, and as the mother of 4 college students, the devastation that can be marching thru my home.
Body
A. Meningitis is an infection of the brain.
1. Meningitis involves the lining of the meninges, or tissue, around the brain.
2. Meningitis can be bacterial or viral; viral tends to be not as severe, but it is not uncommon for bacterial meningitis to cause death within twenty-four hours.
B. Signs and symptoms of the disease
1. Purple, bruise-like areas on skin or a rash, made up of small pinpoint red dots. 2. Fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, mental status changes, sensitivity to light, stiff neck, and severe headache.
C. Causes and effects of the disease
1. Risk factors are exposure to meningococcal meningitis and a recent upper respiratory infection; signs and symptoms usually appear three to seven days after exposure.
a. This disease usually occurs in the winter or spring, especially hitting college students sharing food, drink, and cigarettes.
b. The cause is by a medical infection spread by air droplets associated with college students living in close proximity in dorms, campuses, close socialization, being run down, and not eating or sleeping properly.
2.