A journal report from 1983 indicated that untreated DPB had a five-year survival rate of 62.1%, while the 10-year survival rate was 33.2%.[6] With erythromycin treatment, individuals with DPB now have a much longer life expectancy due to better management of symptoms, delay of progression, and prevention of associated infections like P. aeruginosa.[19] The 10-year survival rate for treated DPB is about 90%.[4] In DPB cases where treatment has resulted in significant improvement, which sometimes happens after about two years, treatment has been allowed to end for a while. However, individuals allowed to stop treatment during this time are closely monitored. As DPB has been proven to recur, erythromycin therapy must be promptly resumed once disease symptoms begin to reappear.