Don’t wash your hands with these recalled soap products, which could lead to life-threatening sepsis

New Jersey-based DermaRite Industries has announced a voluntary recall of individual lots of soap and skincare products due to microbial contamination, which has been identified as Burkholderia cepacia, the company said last week.

The bacterium can cause serious and life-threatening infections. 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a recall announcement on August 9. Impacted products include over-the-counter (OTC) antiseptic lotion soaps, external analgesics, antimicrobial foam soaps, and antiseptic cleansers.

The following products are included in the recall: 

• OTC Healthcare antiseptic lotion soap DermaKleen
• OTC External Analgesic DermaSarra
• OTC Antimicrobial foam soap KleenFoam
• OTC Antiseptic cleanser PeriGiene

The FDA recall notice includes a list of impacted products with their lot numbers, expiration dates, reorder numbers, product descriptions, and product labels. The recalled products were distributed nationwide in the United States and Puerto Rico. 

You can also find full-color images of the impacted product labels on DermaRite’s website. The company says it has not received any reports of adverse events related to the recall. 

Bacterial infection could cause life-threatening sepsis 

According to a “risk statement” published by DermaRite, the contaminated products may be used by immunosuppressed individuals and people caring for immunosuppressed individuals.

Burkholderia cepacia can cause serious, life-threatening infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While healthy individuals with minor skin lesions are only likely to experience local infections, people with weakened immune systems are more at risk.

For immunosuppressed individuals, the infection is more likely to spread into the bloodstream and could lead to life-threatening sepsis. Sepsis can cause extensive inflammation throughout the body and cause tissue damage, organ failure, and death. 

Consumers should destroy impacted products 

DermaRite alerted distributors and customers to the voluntary recall by email and told them to examine their inventory and destroy all affected products immediately. 

If you have questions about the recall, contact Mary Goldberg by calling 973-569-9000 x104 Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST or by emailing [email protected].

If you have experienced problems related to using the impacted products, contact a healthcare provider. Report any adverse reactions experienced as a result of using these products to the FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program. 

You can file a report online, download a reporting form, or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form to submit by fax or mail.