Lyme Borreliosis Awareness, Risk Perception, and Willingness to Vaccinate in France: Where Do We Stand?

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere. In France, despite rising LB incidence, preventive measures remain limited and mainly rely on personal protective behaviors. As efforts advance toward developing an LB vaccine, it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of public awareness, preventive practices, and vaccine acceptance. A cross-sectional online survey of French adults aged 18–65 years was conducted between November 2022 and January 2023 to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, outdoor activity patterns, tick and LB awareness, perceived risk, preventive behaviors, and willingness to vaccinate. Among the 1803 eligible respondents, tick awareness was high (94.1%), with LB awareness slightly lower (74.5%). Among tick- and LB-aware respondents, 39.4% and 29.7% perceived themselves to be at high risk of being bitten by a tick and of contracting LB, respectively. The most common preventive behaviors were post-exposure tick checks (39.8%) and wearing protective clothing (38.5%). Concern about side effects (63.2%) and cost (42.4%) were the main barriers to vaccination. Willingness to vaccinate reached 68.3% in a hypothetical scenario in which the vaccine was both reimbursed and recommended by a healthcare professional. Our findings suggest that willingness to vaccinate against LB could be high if a future vaccine were reimbursed and supported by healthcare professionals.