“…The mechanisms of platelet aggregation by these stimuli have been studied in detail (16). In contrast to these effects favorable for hemostasis, platelets also possess a pathogenic significance in disseminated intravascular coagulation (DI C) during sepsis or infective endocarditis (3,7,22,30) and observations have been made concerning the relationship between the platelet and several species of microorganisms, Staphylococcus aureus (8,18,28,40), coagulasenegative staphylococci (CNS) (41), streptococci (24,35,36,39,43), Listeria monocytogenes (9), Fusobacterium necrophorum (15), Aspergillus fumigatus (31), Candida albicans (33), Histoplasma capsulatum (10).…”