I hope he isn't your better half anymore...

I don't know why I said other half.. I meant ex..

Freudian slip?

Also half of what you do to cure it is wash all your clothes and bedding etc. The other half is put a cream all over your body and sleep in it, then wash it off. It's only (NZ$) $15 for 5 people's ointment on a prescription.

Like pets, humans have a particular variety of mites that can cause advanced " Sarcoptic mange". This is totally separate variety from the ones that cause "mange" in dogs and cats; however, if the variety of mange mite that affects dogs and cats gets on a human it can cause a nasty red welt just like a mosquito bite. Several of these bites can be rather troublesome. Since these varieties are not well adapted to humans, they do not produce the extensive tunnels and cause the advanced lesions and scabs over the skin surface. They just burrow in a short distance and die. This causes inflammation and the resulting welt. 'mange' is in fact the irritation caused NOT the mite itself.. Yes you can get a rash from it but you do not become infected with it as the mites die..

The death of the organisms imply that its a self-limiting problem but in some immune compromised individuals infections can occur. Yes it most typically presents just as rashes and wheals but anyone that has experienced this can assure you that its not nothing.

I've had scabies.. It's horrible, I'm aware of that. Human scabies lasts until it is treated, animal scabies ON humans causes problems for maybe a week (unless, as you said, there are other complications) it's like having a really bad reaction to a flea bite. The sister could not infect the rest of the household with scabies from a kitten, they would all have to be in contact with the kitten to be infected. At no point did I say it was 'nothing'

Apologies - it felt as though regarding it as nothing was implied. And agreed, it would be very very difficult indeed for op's sister to spread animal originating sarcoptes infections. Heck even the ringworm would be difficult to spread through the family. I feel that the op was over-reacting to a simple problem.

When I had scabies it cost us £7 ($11) each to treat and the cream could be bought over the counter. OP is TOTALLY making a mountain out of a molehill! Worse case scenario $154 to treat the whole family for BOTH conditions and that's if all 7 of them caught both things. So yes, total overreaction! Ring worm is easily spread in unsanitary conditions but it's so easily avoidable! Kids are a freaking nightmare for spreading it though! Why OP thinks not having insurance is a problem I'm not sure.. I know $100+ is not something everyone can afford but even with insurance you sometimes have to pay for stuff like prescriptions don't you? (IDK NHS here lol)

In sa there are levies on certain prescriptions but not others regardless of insurance. In my experience, ringworm is not that hard to contain in a family - even with kids and pets. It just takes some discipline. But then again, like we said, this whole thing is just mountains outta molehills.