The paediatric population represents a quarter of the world’s population, and like adult patients, they have also suffered immeasurably from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Immunisation is an effective strategy for reducing the number of COVID-19 cases. With the advancements in vaccination for younger age groups, parents or guardians have raised doubts and questions about adverse effects and the number of doses required. Therefore, systematic reviews focusing on this population are needed to consolidate evidence that can help in decision-making and clinical practice. This protocol aims to assess the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in paediatric patients and evaluate the correlation between the number of vaccine doses and side effects.

We will search the PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, Scopus and Cochrane databases for randomised and quasi-randomised clinical trials that list the adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccine and assess its correlation with the number of doses, without any language restrictions. Two reviewers will select the studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extract data and asses for risk of bias using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. The Review Software Manager (RevMan V.5.4.1) will be used to synthesise the data. We will use the Working Group’s Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluations to grade the strength of the evidence of the results.

Formal ethical approval is not required as no primary data are collected. This systematic review will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication.

CRD42023390077.

Timor-Leste has one of the world’s highest estimated tuberculosis (TB) incidences, yet the data which informs this estimate is limited and the true burden of TB disease is not known. TB prevalence surveys offer the best means of determining robust estimates of disease burden. This study aims to provide an estimate of the prevalence of bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary TB in Timor-Leste and provide additional insights into diagnostic coverage and health-seeking behaviour of persons with symptoms suggestive of TB.

A national population-based cross-sectional cluster survey will be conducted in which participants aged 15 years and older will be screened for pulmonary TB using an algorithm consisting of symptom screening and digital X-ray of the chest with computer-aided detection software for X-ray interpretation. Xpert Ultra and liquid culture methods will be used to confirm survey TB cases. Additional data will be collected from persons reporting symptoms suggestive of TB to assess health-seeking behaviour and access to TB diagnosis and care. The survey aims to screen a target sample population of 20 068 people, living within 50 clusters, representing every municipality of Timor-Leste. Bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary TB prevalence will be estimated using WHO-recommended methods.

Research ethics approval has been granted by the human research ethics committee of the Northern Territory, Australia, and the Instituto Nacional da Saúde, Timor-Leste. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and disseminated with relevant stakeholders.

ACTRN12623000718640.

Breast cancer survivors (BCSs) experience more severe symptoms of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) than healthy postmenopausal women. As hormonal therapy with oestrogen should be avoided in BCSs, finding an effective and safe therapy to address vaginal symptoms and sexual dysfunction is urgently needed. Physical methods may be promising alternatives for the specificities of this group of women. This review aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of physical methods (laser and radiofrequency) for treating GSM in BCSs.

The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, SciELO, LILACS, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and ClinicalTrials.gov databases will be searched. A search strategy was developed to retrieve clinical trials that evaluate the efficacy and safety of any physical method (laser or radiofrequency) used for GSM in BCSs. No date or language restrictions will be imposed. Two authors will independently select studies by title, abstract and full text to meet the inclusion criteria. Data will be extracted, and the risk of bias will be evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2). Review Manager 5.4.1 will be used for data synthesis. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation will be used to assess the strength of the evidence.

This study reviews the published data; thus, obtaining ethical approval is unnecessary. The findings of this systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

CRD42023387680.