--- title: Sleeping Less Dramatically Raises Your Risk For Getting Sick description: People who sleep six hours a night or less are four times as likely to get sick as those who got seven hours of sleep, finds a new study canonical: https://time.com/4017664/sleep-virus/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-31T19:00:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:58.454Z article:section: Health og:title: Sleeping Less Dramatically Raises Your Risk For Getting Sick og:description: People who sleep six hours a night or less are four times as likely to get sick as those who got seven hours of sleep, finds a new study og:url: https://time.com/4017664/sleep-virus/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9870f3c43cbfd8d2/6988604e35ba6f2630c0ec91/sleep-alarm-clock-health-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1000 og:image:height: 563 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock health sleep alarm clock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sleeping Less Dramatically Raises Your Risk For Getting Sick twitter:description: People who sleep six hours a night or less are four times as likely to get sick as those who got seven hours of sleep, finds a new study twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9870f3c43cbfd8d2/6988604e35ba6f2630c0ec91/sleep-alarm-clock-health-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lack of Sleep Dramatically Raises Your Risk For Getting Sick > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Why Do I Need a Flu Shot? TIME Explains [Watch (HLS stream): Why Do I Need a Flu Shot? TIME Explains](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jxdi6F8H.m3u8) (2:20)  _Published 2013-11-04. If you think it's one and done like a measles vaccine, think again. The flu virus is ever-changing and mutating. So this year health experts created new vaccines that can protect you from upto 4 of the latest strains._  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 31, 2015 7:00 PM UTC  Illustration by Sydney Rae Hass for TIME  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 31, 2015 7:00 PM UTC If you want to stay healthy, skip sleep at your own risk. According to the new results of a new study, people who slept six hours a night or less were four times as likely to get sick after being exposed to the cold virus compared with those who got more sleep. The study, published in the September issue of the journal _Sleep_, looked at 164 healthy adults who volunteered to catch a cold for science. The researchers first equipped the volunteers with a wrist gadget to monitor how much they slept per night over the course of a week. A couple of weeks later, they brought them into the lab and injected live rhinovirus into their nose. They then quarantined them in a hotel for five days and took a virus culture from their nose each day to see who got sick. **MORE**: [Here’s How Hugs Can Prevent The Flu](http://time.com/3639908/heres-how-hugs-can-prevent-the-flu/) How many hours a person slept, it turns out, was one of the strongest predictors of whether or not they got sick—even more than other factors like a person’s age, body mass, stress levels or emotional state. People who slept six hours a night or less were four times as likely to develop a cold compared to people who slept more than seven hours a night. Those who got less than five hours of sleep a night were at 4.5 times that risk. The study wasn’t designed to figure out the link between sleep and sickness, but Aric Prather, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, had some theories. “We know that sleep plays an important role in regulating the immune system,” he says. When we don’t sleep enough, our internal environment shifts to make us less effective at fighting off a virus, he explains; studies have shown that important immune cells are increased in the blood, meaning they’re not where we really need them to be—in the immune organs like the lymph nodes—to effectively fight off viruses. Shortened sleep also seems to alter the inflammatory response, which helps our bodies clear out viruses when it’s functioning properly, he says. “This is really the first convincing evidence that objectively verified sleep is associated with susceptibility to the common cold, which is a huge deal for the sleep research community,” Prather says. Sleeping more isn’t quite a cure for the common cold, but it could go a long way in protecting you from getting sick in the first place. ## Transcript It's time for your annual flu shot. But will the vaccine protect you? Here's what you need to know. It's flu season which means it's time for your annual flu shot. So, the question always is: Why do we need to get a shot every year? Why isn't the influenza vaccine more like measles or rubella or polio, where it's one undone and you're protected for years if not for life? Well, you can blame the influenza virus for that. It has gotten so good at mutating to bypass the effects of the vaccine that we have to get rearmed against whatever circulating that season each year. So, every spring, officials at the World Health Organization convene influenza experts and they decide which strains of the virus should be included in the upcoming season's vaccine. They do their best to look at which strains are emerging in people who are starting to get sick with flu but it's a guess. It's and educating yes, but it's still a guess. So, why did they make this decision so early? Nearly nine months before the first sneezes and cough start? Influenza viruses are grown on chicken eggs and in order to grow enough virus to fill those vaccines, it takes several months. This year, when you go to the doctor, you'll have far more choices than you've had before. You could still get the traditional flu shot which contains three different influenza strains and kids who are afraid of needles can get the nasal spray. And for adults who are needle- phobic, there's also a micro needle version, which contains a smaller needle that gives a little less painful job. And for the first time this year, there's also an influenza vaccine that protects against four different flu strains. So, it gives you a little more protection once the season starts. And the elderly can also get a little extra dose from a high dose vaccine that protects their weaker immune systems and gives them a little bit of a boost. For those who are allergic to eggs, there's also a cell- based flu vaccine that allows them to get vaccinated against influenza for the first time. So, given all this choice, there should be something for everyone. 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