This would be news to Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., Alper, C. M., Janicki-Deverts, D., & Turner, R. B. (2009). Sleep habits and susceptibility to the common cold. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(1), 62–67. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2008.505
"Background: Sleep quality is thought to be an impor- tant predictor of immunity and, in turn, susceptibility to the common cold. This article examines whether sleep duration and efficiency in the weeks preceding viral ex- posure are associated with cold susceptibility.
Methods: A total of 153 healthy men and women (age range, 21-55 years) volunteered to participate in the study. For 14 consecutive days, they reported their sleep dura- tion and sleep efficiency (percentage of time in bed ac- tually asleep) for the previous night and whether they felt rested. Average scores for each sleep variable were calculated over the 14-day baseline. Subsequently, par- ticipants were quarantined, administered nasal drops con- taining a rhinovirus, and monitored for the develop- ment of a clinical cold (infection in the presence of objective signs of illness) on the day before and for 5 days after exposure.
Results: There was a graded association with average sleep duration: participants with less than 7 hours of sleep were 2.94 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-7.30) more likely to develop a cold than those with 8 hours or more of sleep. The association with sleep efficiency was also graded: participants with less than 92% efficiency were 5.50 times (95% CI, 2.08-14.48) more likely to develop a cold than those with 98% or more efficiency. These relation- ships could not be explained by differences in prechal- lenge virus-specific antibody titers, demographics, sea- son of the year, body mass, socioeconomic status, psychological variables, or health practices. The percent- age of days feeling rested was not associated with colds.
Conclusion: Poorer sleep efficiency and shorter sleep du- ration in the weeks preceding exposure to a rhinovirus were associated with lower resistance to illness."