Sleeping less than six hours the night before you get a vaccination shot - whether for COVID-19, the flu or for travel to another country - may limit your body's response to the vaccine, reducing protection against the virus or bacteria, according to a new study.
"Good sleep not only amplifies but may also extend the duration of protection of the vaccine," said senior author Eve Van Cauter, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago's Department of Medicine, in a statement as per the CNN.
In the study, researchers also noted one odd detail. They found that the impact of poor sleep on the immune response to a vaccine was only scientifically relevant in men.
"Research that used objective measures of sleep deprivation, such as that of a sleep lab, found a decrease in the ability to respond to the vaccine that was particularly and statistically significant in males, but not females," said study co-author Dr Michael Irwin, distinguished professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine.
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Researchers explained that there are known sex differences in the immune response to foreign antigens, like viruses, and also self-antigens, like in autoimmune disorders. "In general, women have stronger immune response, including (to the) flu vaccine," said Dr Phyllis Zee, neurology professor and director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
"The evidence is that these differences reflect hormonal, genetic and environmental differences, which can change over the lifespan, so these differences may be less prominent among older adults," she added.
In the study, the researchers concluded by saying that regardless of gender, if one is sleep-deprived, jet-lagged, working a night shift or otherwise has swings in the sleep-wake cycle, they should consider delaying the vaccination. "If I was working with patients to give them a vaccination, I would inquire whether they're having problems with sleep and whether they were sleep deprived the night before. If they are, I would ask them to come back when they are fully rested," said Dr Irwin.
