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Superbugs cause an estimated 9.7 million infections and 50,800 deaths in the United States each year.

Those figures come from a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that names 19 drug-resistant germs as threats, The Washington Post reports.

Superbugs are bacteria and fungi that have learned to survive the drugs designed to kill them. Their infections can be tough, and sometimes impossible, to treat, the CDC says.

The new totals are higher than in the CDC's 2019 superbug report, although the agency says some of the change reflects new measurement methods.

Germs picked up in hospitals and other medical settings cause more than 42,000 yearly deaths and add nearly $12 billion in health care costs.

"Antimicrobial resistance threatens modern medicine and puts millions of Americans at risk every year," CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz said in a statement.

The CDC ranks four germs as urgent threats, its most dangerous category:

Carbapenems are powerful antibiotics that doctors often save for when nothing else works. Another 13 germs pose serious threats, two are concerning and six more are on a watch list.

Dr. Helen Chu, an infectious disease physician at the University of Washington in Seattle, has seen more severe infections among her hospitalized patients, including gonorrhea and necrotizing fasciitis, a tissue-destroying infection.

"We saw an uptick of these cases in the last few years, the 'flesh-eating bacteria' that we worry about," Chu told The Post.

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