New babies come from a pretty sterile place, I’m told. I’ve also been told that we have lots of nifty bacteria in our guts that either handle or help our digestion. How is it that these two get together? Is E. coli just slathered on every surface in every home so that new babies get their first infusion environmentally? I’m pretty sure it’s not coming from the breast milk, as that must be pretty sterile too.
I asked one of the long time neonatal nurses at the hospital, but she had no idea and had never though of it. She even suggested that it may just grow in the baby like organs do, but I suspect that E. coli DNA will not match my babies DNA.
But they also have no idea as to what kinds of things should be kept out of the mouth, including dirty hands.
Young childred and immuno-suppressed adults are at greater risk for any kind of infection, which may explain a higher infant E. coli infection rate. Beneficial strains of E. coli are actually the primary bacteria in the human intestine. But if even those buggers make it out of the intestinal tract and into other parts of the body, serious infections can result. Perhaps back when people cooked baby formula at home the incidents of infection were higher, but I don’t think that is true today. It’s probably just because infants are less able to combat infection.
E. coli is passed through the fecal-oral route. Anyone who’s had a child will nod knowingly. It usually takes about six months for the child’s normal intestinal flora to get established.