Dear Editor, Originating in China in late 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic reached Europe in March 2020. In its most severe expression, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia presents as the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), mandating intensive care unit (ICU) admission and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV)[1]. Bacterial coinfections, well documented in other respiratory viral infections, notably influenza [2], have not yet been investigated at the onset of COVID-19 pneumonia. To address this, we conducted a prospective cohort study in three ICUs of Lyon University-Affiliated Hospital. This study was approved by the institutional ethics committee (Comité d’Ethique du CHU de Lyon, N 20-42). Consecutive patients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection requiring IMV for ARDS (Berlin definition) were recruited from March 16th to April 6th 2020, and were followed-up for 28 days. Endotracheal aspirates (ETA) or bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) were sampled in the 24 h following tracheal intubation, and microbiology analyses were performed, including conventional culture and a multiplex PCR assay (BioFire