Poor quality data challenges conclusion and decision making: timely analysis of measles confirmed and suspected cases line list in Southern Nations Nationalities and People’s Region, Ethiopia

Background Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine is available. Timely analysis of measles surveillance data is crucial for epidemic control and can show disease control program status. Therefore, this study aimed to show vaccination status and delay in seeking health care using surveillance data. Methods A retrospective study was carried out in Southern Nations Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia. We reviewed 2132 records from measles surveillance line list data from July 2013 to January 2014. Descriptive statistics were performed using SPSS 20 for Windows. Results From a total of 2132 confirmed and suspected measles cases, 1319 (61.9%), had at least one dose of measles containing vaccine; the rest 398 (18.7%) and 415 (19.5%) were unvaccinated and had unknown status respectively. About two fifth, 846 (39.7%), cases visited health facilities within 48 h of onset of clinical signs/symptoms with a median of 2.0 days, IQR (1.0, 3.0). Conclusion Majority of the measles cases were vaccinated with at least one dose of measles containing vaccine and vaccination data or vaccine potency at lower level was unclear. Delay in seeking healthcare was noted as only about two fifth of cases visited health facilities within 48 h of clinical manifestation. Vaccination and surveillance data quality and factors associated with delay in seeking health care should be investigated.