TITLE: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918
General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose:By the end of my speech, my audience will be able to know about the cause, effects, and the preventive measures that were taken to control the spread of Influenza.

Central Idea:The leading cause of the 1918 Influenza pandemic was the H1N1 virus that contained the genes of the avian origin. The disease caused a high death rate of about 50 million people worldwide, with an estimate of about 675,000 persons in the United States, which was more than the number of deaths caused by the “Great War.”

Introduction

1. ATTENTION MATERIAL
2. The pandemic occurred after World War 1 when States were busy restructuring and gaining stability in the sector of the economy and government, and it was later declared the global disaster.
3. Many people across the world, especially those under five years, also those between 14 – 40 years and those who were more than 65 years old were hit by the illness on the street and died rapid deaths.

1. ORIENTING MATERIAL

1. The disease was caused by an influenza A (H1N1)..

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2. The most significant impact that was felt by the deadly pandemic disease was that it infected many people as well as resulted in massive deaths.
3. The preventive measures that were adopted were standard, which involved instructions and personal responsibilities because there were no vaccines or antibiotics.
4. During that time, there were no vaccines or antibiotics that could be used to protect against infectious influenza or to treat the secondary bacterial infections that could be associated with influenza infections. Still, the public health committee came up with measures to control contagious flu, but they were limited to non-pharmaceutical approaches like quarantine, isolation, the use of disinfectants, practice on good personal hygiene, as well as restrictions on public meetings and gatherings and they were unevenly applied.

Body

1. The original cause of this pandemic disease is still not known. Even, many researchers suggested that it was caused by an influenza A (H1N1) virus that developed from a rare genetic shift of the influenza virus.
2. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The disease often progressed to the failure of body organs and resulted in pneumonia that also caused many deaths.
3. Another effect was that the economy suffered as businesses and factories were forced to close due to sickness amongst workers.
4. The mortality rate was high in people younger than five years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic.

Transition statement: I have highlighted the cause and significant effects of the 1918 influenza.

1. The pandemic disease is believed to have transpired in three waves.

1. The first wave occurred during the spring of 1918, among the U.S military personnel.
2. Infectious influenza spread rapidly in military barracks where U. S soldiers shared close quarters.
3. The American troops that were already infected with the virus invaded Europe and brought the virus with them.

1. The second wave occurred during the fall of 1918, and it was the most severe.
2. The overcrowded trenches and encampments of the World War became the perfect hosts for the transmission of the disease.
3. The Infected troops of soldiers were moving while spreading it.
4. The wave that had first appeared in Kansas decreased after a few weeks, but this was only a reprieve.
5. This wave was responsible for most of the U.S. deaths attributed to the pandemic.
6. The third wave of the disease occurred during the winter and spring of 1919.
7. This added to the pandemic death toll and subsided during the summer of 1919.

Transition statement: The three waves that contributed to the occurrence of the disease.

1. The preventive measures and were developed by the public health committee that was used to control further spreading of the disease.
2. During that time, there were no vaccines or antibiotics that could be used to protect against infectious influenza or to treat the secondary bacterial infections that could be associated with influenza infections.
3. The public health committee came up with measures to control infectious influenza, but they were limited to non-pharmaceutical approaches like quarantine, isolation, and the use of disinfectants.
4. They also offered education on how to practice good personal hygiene among the people, as well as restrictions on public meetings and gatherings, and they were unevenly applied.
5. Most of the people considered respiratory and cough etiquette to prevent the spread of the disease, and this reduced its speed of spreading.

Conclusion
I. SUMMARY

1. The 1918 influenza was a dangerous disease that caused massive death worldwide.

B.The occurrence of World War 1 contributed to its transmission through different waves.
C.The application of preventive measures helped in controlling the spread of the disease.

    II.CLINCHER

1. The improvement in the scientific field has created antibiotics and vaccines that can be used to control influenza.

B.People are well educated on the awareness of the dangerous disease outbreak, and they are always attentive to their surroundings at all times.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/WORKS CITED

Collins, S. and J. Lehman, Excess Deaths from Influenza and Pneumonia and From Important Chronic Disease during Epidemic Periods 1918-1951 Public Health Monographs No. 10, 1953.

Crawford, Richard, “The Spanish Flu,” Stranger than Fiction: Vignettes of San Diego History San Diego Historical Society, 1995; http://edweb.sdsu.edu/sdhs/stranger/flu.htm

Crosby, Alfred, America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989) p. 1-69.