Lack of sleep could make vaccines less effective

The degree of protection from vaccines may depend on getting enough sleep, at least six hours, in the days before and after the injection, says a study published today in Current Bilogy.

A team from the universities of Chicago (USA) and Lyon (France) reviewed part of the literature related to sleep duration and the body’s response to vaccination, establishing an association between sleeping less than six hours per night with a sharp decrease in the immune response.

The study focused on influenza and hepatitis A and B vaccines. Although comparable data on Covid-19 were not available, the researchers stressed the need to identify simple behavioral interventions, such as getting enough sleep, that could improve response to the coronavirus vaccine.

The team compared the antibody response of people who slept an amount “normal” (from 7 to 9 hours) with that of “short sleepers” (less than 6 hours per night).

Using the results of the meta-analysis and comparing them with those known about the antibody response to the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine, they calculated that the effects of insufficient sleep on the response to the vaccine would be equivalent to two months of decreased antibodies after vaccination.

“Interestingly, we observed the same results in both influenza, which is a respiratory virus, and hepatitis, which affects the liver, suggesting that this effect could extend to all types of viruses, including coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV. -2″noted Krike Spiegel of the University of Lyon.

The researchers also examined the data by gender, as women tend to have a stronger vaccine response than men.

In the case of men, a strong relationship was observed between hours of sleep and antibody production, but the effect was much more variable in women. The authors estimate that this difference is probably due to fluctuating levels of sex hormones.

“In women, immunity is influenced by the status of the menstrual cycle, contraceptive use, and by menopause and postmenopausal status, but unfortunately none of the studies we summarized had data on sex hormone levels.”said Spiegel.

In addition, the effects were compared between adults older than 65 years versus younger adults.

In that case, the negative effect of insufficient sleep on antibody levels was greater in adults between the ages of 18 and 60 than in people older than 65.

The authors don’t find this surprising because older adults tend to sleep less overall; Going from seven hours of sleep a night to less than six hours is not as big of a change as going from eight hours to less than six a night.

“There is still a lot to know about sleep and vaccination, in things like understanding gender differences, which days around the time of vaccination are the most important, and exactly how much sleep is needed to orient people.”Spiegel added.

Source: EFE.