is this symptoms of a viral infection, hiv, or something else.

Hi, Thanks for writing in. Your symptoms of semi clogged ears, stuffy nose, enlarged lymph nodes under chin may well be due to an upper respiratory tract infection or a viral infection like cold. It has to be kept in mind however that early symptoms of HIV resemble that of flu like fever, rashes, muscle aches and pains, enlarged lymph nodes. The rash usually occurs all over the body. Ulcers develop in the mouth and genitals. It is difficult to say for sure that your symptoms are due to HIV. I would suggest you to schedule an appointment with your PCP and undergo a clinical exam. There are two options in such a situation. One is to wait for 6 months and get an ELISA test done because Anti-HIV antibodies take upto 6 months to show on ELISA testing. The second option is to get an expensive test done known as PCR (polymerase chain reaction). This test is positive even in early stages of infection. The downside is PCR may come positive even if you are not infected. So if you do get a positive PCR, you need to get a repeat test done followed by traditional HIV test. Hope this answers your question!