An American teenager who defied his anti-vaxxer parents' beliefs and got himself vaccinated will testify before the United States Senate about his experience.

Ethan Lindenberger of Ohio said he's looking forward to discussing the bogus information about vaccines that had led troubling numbers of parents to defy legitimate medical advice and leave their children vulnerable to diseases. 

"My parents think vaccines are some kind of government scheme," he wrote on social media in November.  "It's stupid and I've had countless arguments over the topic.  But, because of their beliefs I've never been vaccinated for anything, god knows how I'm still alive."

He researched information on vaccines and how to get them, and now the 18-year old has been vaccinated against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, and HPV at an Ohio Department of Heath office.  On Tuesday, he'll get to tell his story to the US Senate Health Committee alongside John Wiesman, Washington state's secretary of health, and Saad B. Omer, a professor at Emory University in Georgia. 

Ethan has four younger siblings, including a 2-year-old sister who he says will probably not be vaccinated because his parents remain obstinate.

"It breaks my heart that she could get measles and she'd be done," Lindenberger said.

Right now, there are measles outbreaks in New York as well as Washington state and Oregon that doctors have blamed on the anti-vaxxer movement, which is based on long debunked junk science and idiotic conspiracy theories.  Last week, health officials warned that thousands of people might have been exposed to measles because of an unvaccinated person with the disease traveled through Chicago's Midway airport.  Outbreaks have also been reported in France, Ukraine, and Israel.