After effective antibiotic treatment, the body temperature may fall in about 3-7 days and to normal in 7-14 days. If there is pus-smelling sputum, the foul sputum odour may disappear after 3 to 10 days of treatment. Overall, it usually takes 8 to 12 weeks of treatment until the symptoms have completely disappeared and the chest X-ray shows complete disappearance of the pus cavity and inflammatory lesions.