Bacterial and fungal colonization of the respiratory tract in COVID-19 patients should not be neglected.

• We conducted a retrospective study on 61 patients admitted to the ICU • We investigated the relationship among SARS-CoV-2 and bacterial/fungal colonization • Among positive bronchial aspirates, 80 % were colonized by fungi or P. aeruginosa • No multidrug-resistant bacteria or fungi were isolated • The failure in the regulation of defenses against pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2