Prevention is better than cure. A milestone of the anthropocene is the emergence of a series of epidemics and pandemics often characterized by the transmission of a pathogen from animals to human in the past two decades. In particular, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made a profound impact on emergency responding and policy-making in a public health crisis. Classical solutions for controlling the virus, such as travel restrictions, lockdowns, repurposed drugs and vaccines, are socially unpopular and medically limited by the fast mutation and adaptation of the virus. This is exacerbated by microbial resistance to therapeutic drugs and the slowness of vaccine development. In other words, microbial pathogens are somehow ‘smarter’ and faster than us, thus calling for more intelligent cures to combat future pandemics. Here, we compare therapeutics for COVID-19 such as synthetic drugs, vaccines, antibodies and phages. We present the strength and limitations of antibiotic and antiviral drugs, vaccines, and antibody-based therapeutics. We describe smarter, cheaper and preventive cures such as bacteriophages, food medicine using probiotics and prebiotics, sports, healthy diet, music, yoga, Tai Chi, dance, reading, knitting, cooking and outdoor activities. Some of these preventive cures have been intuitively developed since thousands of years ago, as illustrated by the fascinating similarity of the Chinese characters for ‘music’ and ‘herbal medicine.’

预防胜于治疗。人类世的一个里程碑是在过去的二十年中出现了一系列流行病和大流行病，其特征通常是病原体从动物传播给人类。特别是，2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 对公共卫生危机中的应急响应和政策制定产生了深远影响。控制病毒的经典解决方案，例如旅行限制、封锁、重新利用药物和疫苗，在社会上不受欢迎，并且由于病毒的快速变异和适应而在医学上受到限制。微生物对治疗药物的耐药性和疫苗开发的缓慢加剧了这种情况。换句话说，微生物病原体在某种程度上比我们“更聪明”、更快，因此需要更智能的治疗方法来对抗未来的流行病。这里，我们比较了合成药物、疫苗、抗体和噬菌体等 COVID-19 的治疗方法。我们介绍了抗生素和抗病毒药物、疫苗和基于抗体的疗法的优势和局限性。我们描述了更智能、更便宜和预防性的治疗方法，例如噬菌体、使用益生菌和益生元的食品药物、运动、健康饮食、音乐、瑜伽、太极、舞蹈、阅读、针织、烹饪和户外活动。其中一些预防性疗法自数千年前就已经直观地发展起来，正如汉字“音乐”和“草药”的惊人相似性所说明的那样。更便宜和预防性的治疗方法，例如噬菌体、使用益生菌和益生元的食品药物、运动、健康饮食、音乐、瑜伽、太极拳、舞蹈、阅读、针织、烹饪和户外活动。其中一些预防性疗法自数千年前就已经直观地发展起来，正如汉字“音乐”和“草药”的惊人相似性所说明的那样。更便宜和预防性的治疗方法，例如噬菌体、使用益生菌和益生元的食品药物、运动、健康饮食、音乐、瑜伽、太极拳、舞蹈、阅读、针织、烹饪和户外活动。其中一些预防性疗法自数千年前就已经直观地发展起来，正如汉字“音乐”和“草药”的惊人相似性所说明的那样。