While vaccines are widely used, more efforts are needed to raise public awareness of vaccines and their benefits, experts say.

Zhang Yiming, a 38-year-old film director, shared his family's tragedy on a recent talk show, hosted by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and international consulting company Global Health Strategies.

Zhang's younger brother was born in 1984, shortly after floods hit their hometown in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province. The boy was paralyzed after suffering severe fevers.