This is addressed to any family that is concerned about having their child vaccinated, especially against measles. Unlike the claims of the anti-science, anti-evidence-based opinions of our Secretary of Health and Human Services, I can tell you what could happen if your unvaccinated child contracts measles.

First, know that those theories relating vaccinations to autism began with an article by former Dr. Andrew Wakefield, a British doctor who was paid by corporate interests to do research that met their advertising goals. He was ‘defrocked’ since that fraud was exposed. And now, there are some researchers that are producing similar ‘studies’ without regard to legitimate research for the truth, but rather because they are paid to reach predetermined outcomes.

My advice is based on my own family experience.

My younger sister was precocious and seemed to have great potential for a very productive life. My mother bragged to friends and relatives that she walked and began talking at a very early age. I remember her as being a very bright, engaging toddler.

She came down with measles at about 18 months of age at a time when a viable measles vaccine was not available. She suffered very high temperatures for nearly a week. Even though I was just a child myself, I vividly remember my parents, who did not have health insurance at the time, giving her cold water enemas and alcohol swabs to try to control the fever. Our doctor, who understood my parents could not afford a hospital stay, advised them along the way that this was likely all that could have been done for her in a hospital setting. There still is no effective treatment for measles, only relief for symptoms.

Sadly, my sister suffered brain damage as a result. She had to struggle to learn to walk and talk again, and by the time she was school-age, she was judged developmentally disabled. She attended ‘special classes’ in school and persevered to graduate high school. Her only employment was in sheltered workshops.

She has now, like so many sheltered disabled children, outlived our parents. As her only sibling, I try to help her live as independently as possible, and luckily, perhaps because she was born with that intellectual head-start, she has a lot of will power and thinks pretty positively. She makes me laugh a lot at her inventive ways to solve some of life’s problems.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, as of June 24, there are a total of 1,227 measles cases in the United States. The Johns Hopkins University public health website states that 94% of those were unvaccinated, and a news alert by the Georgia Institute of Technology states three in 1,000 sufferers die and children who survive can suffer permanent brain damage, blindness or hearing loss.

So, I offer my family history to those who may be wondering about all the differing pronouncements about vaccines.

I would ask you to please, please consider the alternative your child may suffer. With the availability of safe, effective vaccines there’s no reason for my family story to be your family story.

Dianne Schuett served in the state House of Representatives for 14 years representing Merrimack 12. She lives in Pembroke.