I doubt that E. coli destroys the immune mechanisms of breast milk
forever.  Babies are normally colonized with maternal bacteria at birth,
e. coli among them.  This is perhaps one reason why the vaginal outlet
is so close to the anus.  Generally, if mom is healthy enough to carry a
pregnancy to term, the bugs in and on her body are the more benign ones,
and outcompete nastier ones.  STDs are a notable exception, they are
relatively recent introductions, and are due to cultural factors such as
urbanization (increases the number of people one rubs up against) and
changing sexual behavior (multiple partners increase the likelihood that
diseases will spread widely).

We do know that other foods affect some of the protections of breast
milk at least temporarily, so I am not advocating ever giving a baby
anything other than human milk without dire necessity.  There are
trophic functions of lactose on the gut, and glucose and sucrose can be
harmful because they do not have these tissue building, gut closure
promoting functions.  Formula can skew the gut bacteria for 2 weeks from
just one bottle according to research.  Exogenous iron does overload and
incapacitate lactoferrin, and allow iron dependent bacteria to grow in
the gut.

I'd be very interested in seeing research that shows that the immune
defense from breast milk is so easy to defeat permanently.  It has been
my experience that breastfeeding is a robust process...
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC   NYC

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