Henrik L Hansen

Sundhedsstyrelsen | SST · Office of public health, Southern Denmark

Background: This study aimed to review Danish register-studies on seafarers' and fishermen's health and safety. Methods: Register-based or register-linked studies from 1970 until 2012 were identified and reviewed. Four categories of studies were included: mortality, hospitalization, specific diagnoses and conditions and accidents. Standardized r...

A previous study demonstrated a high death rate among seafarers signed on Danish ships during the years 1986-1993. This study aimed to examine and analyse the subsequent development until 2009. A total of 356 fatalities were identified from data supplied from the Danish Maritime Authority, an insurance company, and other sources. Maritime deaths am...

BACKGROUND. In addition to the well-known medical consequences of overweight, severe obesity may also constitute a safety problem on board a ship in case of an emergency. The purpose of this study was to determine the current extent of the problem of overweight among Danish seafarers and fishermen and to follow-up the situation since a previous sur...

The purpose of the study was to study the circumstances and incidence rates of fatal accidents in inspection obligated and non-inspection obligated Danish fishing vessels to identify areas for prevention. Information about the fatalities came from maritime authority reports, including vessel disaster reports, post mortem reports, maritime inquiries...

Earlier studies and statistics have shown that merchant seafarers from the South East Asia had considerable lower accident rates when compared with seafarers from Western Europe. The purposes of the study were to investigate whether the earlier observations were sustained if further sources on occurrence of accidents were used and to identify speci...

For centuries, tuberculosis has been identified as a burden to seafarers. In this study, we assessed the magnitude of tuberculosis among merchant seafarers today. Furthermore, we identified the most likely routes of M. tuberculosis transmission by the use of DNA fingerprinting. A database containing all culture-positive tuberculosis cases in Denmar...

Seafarers aboard oil and chemical tankers may be exposed to many chemicals, including substances like benzene that are known to be carcinogenic. Other seafarers are exposed to engine exhaust, different oil products, and chemicals used aboard and some years ago asbestos was also used extensively in ships. The aim of this study was to study cancer mo...

To study morbidity among active seafarers in the merchant navy in order to clarify possible work related morbidity and the morbidity related to work and lifestyle where possible preventive measures may be initiated. From a register in the Danish Maritime Authority a cohort of Danish merchant seafarers who had been actively employed at sea in 1995 w...

Danish seafarers have an excess of life style related diseases where obesity may be a factor. Obesity may in itself be a safety issue at sea. The purpose was to study overweight among male seafarers and determine the consequences if a maximum Body Mass Index (BMI) for seafarers is decided. As part of the mandatory pre-employment health examination,...

In environmental health research there is a recognized need to develop improved epidemiologic and statistical methods for rapid assessment of relationships between environment and health. Exposure assessment is identified as a major challenge needing attention. In this study an exposure simulation model was used to delimit almost exactly in space a...

in environmental health research there is a recognized need to develop improved epidemiologic and statistical methods for rapid assessment of relationships between environment and health. Exposure assessment is identified as a major challenge needing attention. In this study an exposure simulation model was used to delimit almost exactly in space a...

Introduction: A large proportion of a Danish town has for at least twenty years been exposed unknown quantities of airborne dioxin. To overcome prevailing problems of demarcating the populations at risk, assessing the level of dioxin exposure and controlling for migration, an epidemiological model based on a GIS platform has been developed. Methods...

This study was designed to establish the manner and causes of all fatalities among seafarers who were serving in British merchant shipping between 1 January 1986 and 31 December 1995. Other main aims were to compare mortality rates with workers in other industries and with seafarers in other merchant fleets, and to discuss recommendations for the p...

To investigate the frequency, circumstances, and causes of occupational accidents aboard merchant ships in international trade, and to identify risk factors for the occurrence of occupational accidents as well as dangerous working situations where possible preventive measures may be initiated. The study is a historical follow up on occupational acc...

1. Introduction All elements for doing high-quality small area environmental health studies are now available in Denmark. These include geo-coding of all addresses (the ’Address Project’), a central population register, health registers and environmental data. Work is now in progress to develop systems, which can handle data from all four of these...

Injuries involving chemicals occur aboard merchant ships, since such agents are carried commonly on board either as cargo or as needed for running the ship. In case of events involving chemicals, the crew may seek advice from the Medical First Aid Guide for Use in Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods published by the International Maritime Organizat...

Introduction: Injuries involving chemicals occur aboard merchant ships, since such agents are carried commonly on board either as cargo or as needed for running the ship. In case of events involving chemicals, the crew may seek advice from the Medical First Aid Guide for Use in Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods published by the International Mari...

Based on records kept in the Singapore Mercantile Marine Office, the paper presents the results of a study on deaths due to disease of seafarers on board Singapore ships. Out of a total of 373 deaths, altogether 69 fatalities were attributed to diseases. More than 65% (n=45) of theses deaths were due to circulatory diseases commonly associated with...

Insufficient conserved home-made products are the main cause of botulism in Denmark. We present a case of botulism caused by a commercially produced vegetable pie conserved by traditional bottling without addition of preservatives. Clostridium botulinum was grown from faeces of the index case indicating an intestinal infection. An action plan set u...

To study the mortality of women in an occupation known to have a high mortality among men. A total of 6788 female seafarers of all job categories who had been employed on Danish merchant ships, passenger ships, and privately owned ferries between 1986 and 1993, were followed up until the end of 1993. Standardised mortality ratio (SMR) was 1.20 (95%...

The aim of the present historical cohort study was to enhance the understanding of the unusual mortality pattern seen among seafarers. The main object was to describe the mortality pattern of Danish seafarers in recent years with special reference to the influence of accidents in the maritime workplace and ashore and the influence of diseases relat...

To describe and analyse the types and circumstances of all natural and non-natural deaths among seamen on board Danish merchant ships. Data on 147 cases were obtained from maritime authorities, an insurance company, shipping companies, hospitals, death registers, and death certificates in the period from 1986-93. The 53 natural deaths were dominate...

The purpose of the study was to assess the incidence and relative risk of hepatitis A and B and tuberculosis among Danish merchant seamen. We also assessed the occurrence of malaria. The study was based on record linkage of a research database containing data on 24,132 Danish male seamen and the Registry for Notifiable Infectious Diseases in Denmar...

Seamen constitute a special group of international travellers who may run an increased risk of contracting hepatitis, because of visits to foreign ports and the particular environment on board ship. The purpose of the survey was to assess the prevalence of serological markers for hepatitis A, B and C virus infection among seamen and to identify pre...

A retrospective cohort study was performed to analyze the mortality patterns of Danish merchant seamen in the period 1970-1985. The population census in 1970 in Denmark was the source of information on individual occupation, age, and marital status. All men aged 20-64 years and economically active in 1970 were included. Computerized linkage with th...

The purpose of this study was to estimate the minimal magnitude of the HIV problem among seafarers in Denmark. The material is based on case records from the 6 medical departments in Denmark that undertake treatment of HIV patients. Retrospectively, all case records of HIV infection among seafarers--and of their sexual contacts--have been identifie...

The utilization and effectiveness of a pre-operative autologous blood donation programme were analyzed at a small, 40-bed, general hospital with subspecialization in orthopaedic surgery. Over a period of 8 months, 13 patients who were all to undergo total knee or hip replacement were evaluated. Twelve patients were found suitable and they donated i...

In a randomised study of 558 children in an urban African community, the protective effect of the Edmonston-Zagreb (EZ) measles vaccine given in a dose of 40,000 plaque forming units from the age of 4 months was compared with the effects of a standard dose (6000 tissue culture infectious units) of Schwarz measles vaccine given from the age of 9 mon...

During a 160-household survey conducted in 8 villages in Quitafine a remote rural area in southern Guinea-Bissau blood samples were taken from pregnant women and children to assess the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. 2 (0.7%) of the blood samples obtained from children were positive for antibodies to HIV-2 and human T-ce...

In 1984, a cross-sectional survey was carried out in Quitafine, the southernmost district of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, as part of an ongoing health project in the area. The aim of the survey was to collect data on essential health problems in children under the age of 5 and from pregnant women to evaluate the results of certain preventive effor...

In order to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium and other intestinal parasites, a household sample survey of children under 5 years old was carried out during the late dry season in 8 rural villages in southern Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. Cryptosporidium oocysts were found in 10 of 270 stool samples (3·7%), using a safranin-methylene blue s...